And the winner of premiere week is...CBS

The first week of the new television season is history, and CBS came out the winner. More viewers watched CBS premiere week than any other network, and CBS was the only network to be up over last year. A mighty accomplishment considering the extraordinary amount of competition in the media space. (Spoken like a true marketing guy?)

Now the race goes into its next phase: solidifying the hits and attracting more people to the other shows. We watch the week-to-week trends and see what direction the ratings are headed. Obviously, up is better! So we keep the marketing machine turning, pumping out on-air promotion, radio, and other messages. The good news for CBS is that our platform share of voice is the highest, because we are reaching more viewers, so our on-air promotion is more powerful than our competitors. That's a good thing.

This is the result of months of planning, strategy, execution, gamesmanship, and show biz. As I've tried to explain in previous posts, there are a lot of moving pieces to this game: creativity, media strategy, instinct, risk, and gut feeling. We have a terrific team of programmers, publicists, researchers, marketers, and such; they all strive to get the job done. Ultimately, the decision rests with the viewers. They vote each night, and we get the results the next day. That instant feedback is part of what makes this all so exciting.

Now that the season is underway, I will get back to my posts about the connected/digital home, the growth of home automation, and related topics. Thanks for watching, now stay tuned!