CBS says YouTube is helping ratings

Cory Bergman November 21st, 2006

It’s been a month since CBS began its partnership with YouTube, and the network has uploaded 300 videos. Since that time, the clips have racked up a total of 29.2 million views for an average of 857,000 views a day. Many of the clips are from CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show, and the network says ratings have risen 5 and 7 percent respectively since the YouTube deal began. “Although the success of these shows on YouTube is not the sole cause of the rise in television ratings, both companies believe that YouTube has brought a significant new audience of viewers to each broadcast,” reads the press release, which follows below along with a list of the top 15 clips so far…

PRESS RELEASE — One month after launching the CBS Brand Channel on YouTube, CBS’s daily feed of news, sports and entertainment clips have become some of the most widely viewed content on the site.

CBS has uploaded more than 300 clips that have a total of 29.2 million views on YouTube, averaging 857,000 views per day, since the service launched on October 18. CBS has three of the top 25 most viewed videos this month (Nov.1–17), including clips from CBS’s Tuesday night hit drama “NCIS,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and “The Early Show.” The CBS Brand Channel is also one of the most subscribed channels of all time with more than 20,000 users subscribing to CBS programming on YouTube since the channel launch last month.

“Above all the other good news, what’s most exciting here is the extent to which CBS is learning about its audience as never before,” said Quincy Smith, President, CBS Interactive. “YouTube users are clearly being entertained by the CBS programming they’re watching as evidenced by the sheer number of video views. Professional content seeds YouTube and allows an open dialogue between established media players and a new set of viewers. We believe this inflection point is the precursor to many exciting developments as we continue to build bridges rather than construct walls.”

“CBS has done a phenomenal job at engaging and interacting with the YouTube community and we’re pleased that this has brought new viewers to their broadcasts. It’s been great watching our community respond so strongly and positively to their entertaining content,” said Kevin Donahue, Vice President of Content for YouTube. “We look forward to working with CBS to help them promote their quality programming while bringing timely video content to our user community.”

Ratings for the network’s late night programs, in particular, have shown notable increases. CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” has added 200,000 (+5%) new viewers while “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” is up 100,000 viewers (+7%) since the YouTube postings started. Although the success of these shows on YouTube is not the sole cause of the rise in television ratings, both companies believe that YouTube has brought a significant new audience of viewers to each broadcast.

Here are the Top 15 CBS videos watched this month (as of Nov. 17):

1. NCIS/Cat Fight 1,603,364
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DowFLyuHaeo

2. Letterman/ Borat Meets David Letterman 1,057,180
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvQScRuZj9s

3. Early Show/ Borat Vs Harry Smith 969,391
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnbnaT8If0Q

4. Letterman/ Bush is drinking again 698,806
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irOFAjsnSg0

5. Letterman/ Message About February for Bush 524,697
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmX23l0ouo8

6. CBS Evening News/ Michael J Fox Talks to Katie Couric 465,563
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8lsjfjgAA8

7. CSTV/USC Cheerleaders: The Song Girls 374,623
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KtR2oeXFqo

8. CSTV/ A Field of Dreams for Judy Coffman 358,572
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWERvnzVkYE

9. Letterman/George W. Bush Fakin’ It 357,213
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVOj6iP_iVs

10. Letterman/ Dave and Bill O’Reilly 352,747
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nD_iNPalY

11. Letterman/The Guy Who Swears At Dave 316,258
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foyLyriak-Q

12. Ferguson/ Fun is Dangerous 314,093
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFMfmXWlAGs

13. Letterman/Do Maggots Go With Scorpion 278,283
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjed2Xq0ImI

14. Ferguson/ Bush visits the Un-Late Late Show 221,462
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fvqMF34iG4

15. Ferguson/Bad Kerry 219,556
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Bz_r5CZTk

CBS and YouTube launched the CBS Brand Channel in October, which included clips from “Late Show with Dave Letterman,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “NCIS” and “CSI: Miami,” as well as archival sports footage such as great finishes and upsets from NCAA’s March Madness. CBS has also provided clips from “CBS News First Look with Katie Couric,” in which Couric offers a web-exclusive rundown of the stories being considered for coverage on that night’s “CBS Evening News.” “First Look” also offers some perspective on what is going on in the world that day.