Word: arbitron
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...televangelists are also suffering where it hurts the most -- among viewers. Arbitron, which measures the size of local- and cable-television audiences, says most TV ministries have suffered a significant fall in viewership. Concurs Fred Vierra, president of United Cable, the nation's eighth largest operator: "We do not see their audiences growing. They're staying relatively flat." One evangelist cracks, "I was in West Irian on the island of New Guinea, and even some of the Stone Age people are familiar with the PTL scandal. That's how far it has gone...
...some published accounts, contributions plummeted from $88 million in 1980 to $55 million last year. Another index of trouble: Arbitron ratings indicate that Oral Roberts' weekly TV congregation has dropped by more than half since 1977, though that is partly counterbalanced by an added daily show with his son as host...
Further buttressing the CBS decision was an Arbitron study showing that light-viewing families wanted to see more drama, dance and music on TV than did families more accustomed to hovering around the set. Not surprisingly, Arbitron also discovered that those very same light viewers tend to make and spend more money than do the heavy viewers, a point that doubtless did not escape executives at Black Rock. The appeal to advertisers, the network reasoned, would prove irresistible...