On a recent weekday, a viewer channel-surfing the newscasts and other programs between 6 p.m. and 6 30 p.m., a peak half-hour for political spots, turned up 17 of the commercials on local affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.
Were those viewers channel surfers who happened to land on LL12?
In a valiant attempt to grab the attention of sports mad British viewers, Channel 4 aired The Girl Who Became Three Boys.
It got him some attention, but despite doing a Comedy Lab show that got 900,000 viewers, Channel 4 did not give him a TV series (they went with Fonejacker: cheaper to produce).
Related: A Casual Vacancy takes on Indian Summers in battle for British TV viewers Channel 4's Indian Summers, at £14m believed to be the broadcaster's most expensive drama series ever, had 1.8 million viewers, a 6.5% share, down from 2.2 million (8.1%) last week and its 2.9 million (13.4%) opener two weeks ago.
Only two programmes made it to a million viewers: Channel 4 News at 7pm, which drew 1 million and a 5% share, and another 49,000 an hour later on digital catchup service Channel 4 +1; and Five's drama import NCIS, which had 1 million and 4% in the 9pm hour.
However, these assumptions do not realistically model viewers' channel surfing behaviors.
The advert was seen by an estimated audience of 10 million viewers; Channel 4's marketing and communications chief Dan Brooke estimated that reaction to the advert through social media was double that of the première of the BBC's trailer for its Olympics coverage.
An estimated 50 per cent of all advertising spend is wasted, and agencies that buy television advertising space are supporting BSkyB's initiative in the belief that more relevant commercials might prevent viewers' channel-hopping during breaks.
Amid stiff competition for viewers, channels have relied on populist measures — rowdy political talks shows and, in recent times, vigilante-style "investigative" shows modeled on programs in neighboring India.
If you count yourself as a regular viewer of Channel 4's First Dates, then pat yourself on the back.
