University Park, Pa. -- Nielsen finally got it. What advertising agencies have known for ages, the nation's leading provider of television measurement just started acknowledging: college students watch TV -- and put their money where their remote controls land.
Matt McAllister, an associate professor in the College of Communications at Penn State University Park campus said television networks have asked Nielsen Media Research for quite some time to head into college residence halls and include the students in the National People Meter Sample. In January, the networks got their wish.
"It's all about who the advertisers want to reach," said McAllister. "They love young people, especially in the college age group. What they want are people that have a disposable income, have a lot of opportunity to dispose of it and are influenced by advertisers."
That's not to say, McAllister noted, that college students are wealthy, they're just more likely to spend their money on movies, junk food, fast food and the latest fashions. All this added together, he said, makes them a very desirable audience.
McAllister said the new Nielsen samplings will just boost trends in programming that are already there.
"Television programming is biased," he said. "Networks are always aiming for the 18-35 demographic and this will just reinforce it."
Reality shows like MTV's "The Hills" and "My Super Sweet 16" are inexpensive to produce and an advertiser's dream. Networks that produce shows like these and dramas such as "Grey's Anatomy," "One Tree Hill" and other youth-oriented programming are making more money from advertisers during those broadcasts than during other popular shows like CBS' "Cold Case" which appeals to an older demographic.
When ratings are compared, "Cold Case" or "Without a Trace" might score higher but their viewers are older and not the targeted audience for advertisers said McAllister.
At Penn State, students have a say in what their cable package will include. This year four networks students chose to add to the lineup are the Food Network, Disney Channel, Speed and Travel Channel.
Joel Weidner, director of information systems, said residence hall students are the primary consumers of the content with more than 90 percent of cable connections located in residence halls and commons buildings. It only made sense to survey the students at Penn State to see what they want to watch.
The Association of Residence Hall Students (ARHS) conducted a student survey in 2006 and the results, in addition to e-mails sent by residents to housing, showed that students wanted these networks added. The annual cost of the system is funded primarily by residence hall student room and board payments.
Weidner said Food and Travel are popular networks for all ages and he thinks the Speed network has seen a growth in popularity over the past few years. Disney, however, was unexpected.
"Disney was the most surprising of all the channel requests but it came through on the survey pretty clear, " he said. "We did also have requests from some residents in family housing. We do house families -- not just traditional college students in the 18 - 22 year-old range."
McAllister added that the incorporation isn't as surprising when considering that they are additions to what the school already offers.
"It's not like Disney is the most popular channel," he said. "If MTV weren't a part of the package, then it would be wanted right away."
As for the Disney Channel request, he said it's a popular channel for tweens and college students were in that demographic just three or four years ago. It's nostalgic, he said. Freshmen and sophomores may not admit they watch Hannah Montana or High School Musical but they still like to watch them.
According to Nielsen Research Media the shows watched most by college women are "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives" and "Friends" reruns. Among college men, Comedy Central's "Drawn Together," NBC's "Sunday Night Football" and TNT's "Big Picture Movies" ranked highest. This fall Penn State students also will get to watch the Big Ten Network, which debuts on Thursday, Aug. 30, and will be added to the campus channel lineup.
For a complete listing of campus cable channel lineup, please visit http://www.hfs.psu.edu/tvlistings/ online.