In the television industry, the months of July and August are often considered exceptional months. The heat and the holidays are changing the routines of viewers, who are spending more time on the streets (or at the beach or pool) and less in front of the TV. Fewer viewers, less advertising investment and less self-produced bets. In short, less is spent and earned; fewer money movements. All of this makes it difficult for channel executives to draw conclusions about summer television beyond August. You could say: what happens in summer stays in summer.
In recent weeks it has been common to find proposals leading the night without even reaching 10% screen share in prime time. In fact, according to consultancy Barlovento Comunicación, based on data from auditors Kantar Media, between August 1 and 16 was the only channel to average double digits in the time window between 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. and at midnight it was Antena 3 with a 10.4% share. The same applies when considering the data for the entire day: only the broadcaster Atresmedia exceeded the psychological range of 10% with an average share of 12.2%.
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When speaking of screen share (or share) one is referring to percentages of the total audience at any given time on linear television. 100% would be the total number of viewers across all channels, be it 100,000 or 20 million. While the sum of the nighttime shares of La 1, La 2, Antena 3, Telecinco, Cuatro and La Sexta was 42.5% in the first half of August, the average in the season (from September to June) was 48.8%. When major channel shares drop so much in August, where are viewers going?
You can find the answer in the topic channels of the DTT. While the mainstream channels have seen their follower numbers fall, these alternatives have increased significantly from an average share of 26.9% during the season to 32.8% in August. Because while the main channels are losing a lot of viewers (some like Antena 3 and Telecinco have almost half of the total viewers in August compared to the normal season), the DTT themes hardly lose following and keep 90% of the viewers. % of your viewers. These are channels whose offer hardly varies, with a lot of fiction, reality shows bought abroad, repeats of Spanish series and documentaries, programs that seem to suit the tastes of summer viewers and a more casual viewer profile that likes the channels switch back and forth between the proposals.
An image from the fourth season of Chicago PD, a series aired on Neox.NBC (Matt Dinerstein/NBC)
From Barlovento they also explain that pay-TV is gaining strength in the summer and is positioned as another proposal that increases in screen share compared to the normal course, although less significantly than DVB-T: in prime time it increases from 11.6 % to 12%.
Less night crowd
Another striking fact regarding August audiences is the loss of traction in the nighttime slot, at the moment when main television betting focuses on the starting lineup for the rest of the year. Calculating the total viewership of the six main channels, the average prime-time viewer last season was 6,128,000. However, in the first two weeks of August, the same channels only managed to attract 3,896,000 viewers. They retained 63% of the audience. On the other hand, if one takes into account the average number of viewers throughout the day, these channels managed to retain 75% of their viewers. In the summer, prime time is shorter than the rest of the course. In fact, many of the non-informative programs that attract the most viewers in August are broadcast after dinner (La roulette of Luck, The Promise, Amar es para siempre…) or in the afternoon (Pasapalabra). Particularly striking is the success of La Roulette, which reached its best share since 2010 on August 14 with 23.6% and 1,660,000 viewers.
“La que se avecina” is also one of the series that has the most presence on the FDF channel in summer.
These changes are not unique to this year. Spanish television experienced similar changes in August 2022. The total share of the main channels in prime time increased to 43.8%, slightly higher than this year. They also garnered a slightly higher average viewership of over 4,100,000. But the sharp drop from the regular season was just as evident.
Looking at the data by broadcaster, the declines in viewers as well as in the share of Antena 3 and Telecinco are striking, again particularly evident in the night-time broadcasting sector. While Antena 3 topped the 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. time window between September 2022 and June 2023 with a 14% share, this lead was taken over the first two weeks of August with 10.4%. In the same circumstances, Telecinco achieved a 10.3% share during the prime-time course, making it the second option of the evening, but in August it stayed at 7.4%, falling to third place. Of the three main channels, La 1 was the one that lost the fewest prime-time followers in August, falling from 9.7% during the season to 9.2% in the first half of August.
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