MTV’s Ratings Aren’t the Best Even with “High Social Class” and More
It has been quite the week for MTV. Here’s a quick timeline of what happened:
- Their CEO admits they’re not highest rated or viewed, but have the “high quality” target audience that other stations “don’t reach”
- MTV gets lambasted by the Lebanese public for the elitist comments, then using the word “dogs” from their official pages to describe their detractors
- MTV continues their campaign to shut down voices that criticize them, after having started with Ayamserious, moved on to El 3ama and most recently Mawtoura
- El 3ama’s removed video is returned, as-is two days later and page reactivated. We are still waiting to see what happens with Mawtoura and Ayamserious
- MTV releases statement claiming they are with freedom of expression and deny it is them who reported (yeah, right)
Numbers, Numbers, Numbers
I got my hands on several IPSOS Lebanon reports about Lebanese TV stations, and I’m super happy to share them with you. They’re even worse than I expected for MTV, cause it turns out that even in the “high society” segment they think they’re the only ones that get, they’re behind other stations too.
This Week’s Numbers
As is clearly shown, Monday night, LBC and Al Jadeed were ahead in AMR% compared to MTV. The time slot where one of their most popular shows airs, and in the midst of their scandals and the failed hashtags, they still got this earth-shattering low number: 6.1% which is close but lower than Al Jadeed’s 6.3% and almost half of LBCI’s Hawa El Horiye at 11.0%.
The Share of Audience According to Social Class
This was the piece of information I found the most ironic, where it clearly shows the “AB” social class that MTV thinks it’s the only one that can tap into, and leads among them, is actually demonstrably false. Must hurt.
As you can see, MTV’s SHR% is 27.8% while LBCI/LDC is at 41.0%, and Al Jadeed is at 20.0% with the social class “AB”. There’s one thing kinda true though, it’s the only social class MTV does better than Al Jadeed in, but they’re still far behind LBCI.
Month of January
As usual, LBCI is first with 39.1%, Al Jadeed at 27.1% and MTV at 17.9%. The pie chart next to it is cool too, which explains that more than half of TV viewers aren’t watching local TV stations, but stations from other countries on their satellite networks.
MTV is 3rd Every Day of the Week
Why They Think They’re Number 1
As you can see, the above is NOT actual ad sales, just the rate card these stations send out. A rate card is like a price list you send out to clients, it’s never the final price. Friends who work in the media buying industry know well that MTV often goes down to half the amount on their official rate card.
Another thing MTV does, is it works a lot on a barter basis. This means that they partner up with a car company for example, and get cars they can drive, or their houses furnished, or hotels detailed, etc. and they just add it to the ad sale revenues, explaining why the ad revenue seems so high, when that isn’t reflected in their spending and salaries, etc.
So, I can put my pole dancing rate card as 5 million USD, but that doesn’t make me the highest paid pole dancer in the world. Just another way MTV misleads people and advertisers to seem like they’re most viewed, best rated or highest priced. All of which are untrue.
Note: It’s Not Just IPSOS
Remember a few years ago when MTV didn’t trust IPSOS results, and demanded an audit happen and another company be brought in? Well, the audits showed that IPSOS stats were accurate, but nevertheless another stats company was launched that used to be called “GFK International” and is now called something else after the international company they were partnered with pulled out. In other words, this is the company MTV wanted to replace IPSOS, and guess what, I got to see the reports from that company, and they also place 3rd after LBCI and Al Jadeed. I won’t be posting it here, but please feel free to double check with anyone who has authorized access to it.
Note
I do this because MTV threatens many people’s way of lives with their deliberate misinformation and malicious campaigns against vulnerable individuals and communities in Lebanon. Every time they lie or throw a tantrum, I promise to be here to share the actual results and the rationale behind their erratic behavior.
MTV, please stop lying and focus on fixing the mistakes you usually ignore, and stop being a paid pen that shifts sides at lightning speed whenever someone throws money at you. *cough* plastic surgery clinic *cough* KSA.
