March saw some major milestones in the emerging world of Internet television:
1. Records were broken: 11.7 million hours of live streaming video and audio was consumed during the NCAA men’s basketball tourney – 36 percent more than last year.
2. Viewers admitted – for the first time – that they’d rather give up their TV set then live without their Internet connection!
3. Modern Family spoofed some new doohickey called an iPad in their March 31 episode, just before the real thing hit the market on April 3 (followed by the Clicker iPad Edition on April 5!).
Here at Clicker, viewers were focused on all things LOST, which was our #1 most searched TV Show for the past month, as it heads towards its endearingly confusing conclusion (including this week’s excellent Desmond-focused episode).
Because everybody loves lists, we’ve collected the highest rated programs on Clicker for the month of March. For show titles like LOST or The Pacific, this means rankings in terms of search volume. (You can’t watch a title!) For individual episodes, like Part 1 of The Pacific or the Justified pilot, it means click-throughs to actually view the program.
Most Searched Broadcast Shows
1. LOST (ABC)
2. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
3. Family Guy (FOX)
4. The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
5. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
6. Caprica (Syfy)
7. Nova (PBS)
8. South Park (Comedy Central)
9. House (FOX)
10. The Office (NBC)
11. Seinfeld (TBS)
12. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
13. Chuck (NBC)
14. Modern Family (ABC)
15. Fringe (FOX)
16. NCIS (CBS)
17. The Simpsons (FOX)
18. 24 (FOX)
19. 30 Rock (NBC)
20. Breaking Bad (AMC)
** The most interesting thing about this list is not what made it, but what didn’t. Namely, the NCAA Basketball Tournament that was streamed free online by CBS, and received the incredible viewership record noted above (not to mention being featured daily on the Clicker homepage). It was ranked 30th in our most searched list. Either Clicker users already knew where to find it, or they didn’t care as much as the general population. Secondly, HBO’s follow-up to Band of Brothers, The Pacific, did not make the top 20, coming in 23rd overall. This qualifies as strange because…well, look what’s #1 below!
Most Watched TV Episodes
1. Part 1, The Pacific (HBO – episode currently offline)
2. Sexual Healing, South Park (Comedy Central)
3. Pilot, Justified (FX and Amazon VOD)
4. Live Stream, CNN Live (CNN)
5. Dr. Linus, LOST (ABC)
6. Live Stream 1, FOX News Live (FOX News Channel)
7. Go Stewie Go, Family Guy (FOX)
8. 5 to 9, House (FOX and Amazon VOD)
9. Ab Aeterno, LOST (ABC)
10. Private Lives, House (FOX)
11. Extra-Large Medium, Family Guy (FOX and Amazon VOD)
12. Gary Locke, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (episode currently offline)
13. Tales of Suspense – Part 2, Iron Man Armored Adventures (Nickelodeon)
14. Peter-assment, Family Guy (FOX)
15. Jennifer Lopez, Saturday Night Live (NBC)
16. Episode 1, Dexter (Showtime)
17. The Card Game, Frontline (PBS)
18. Of Course, How I Met Your Mother (CBS and Amazon VOD)
19. Master of the Killer Ants, Nova (PBS)
20. God and Politics, NOW (PBS)
** Very interesting how many top episodes came from outside the top 20 most searched shows. It’s also worth noting the CNN and Fox News live streams appearing in the top 10, likely driven by the healthcare bill debate and signing.
Web Originals
It continues to amaze and impress us how many Web Originals are popping up and holding up well when compared to shows from traditional TV. This includes programs made exclusively for the Web by traditional media companies like National Geographic, which was the most searched program in March, followed closely by a behind-the-scenes Web series for the reality show Bad Girls Club and a documentary on the Portland music scene called Don’t Move Here:
1. National Geographic
2. Bad Girls Club Webisodes
3. Don’t Move Here
4. LOST: Missing Pieces
5. TED Talks
6. LOST: Untangled
7. Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
8. Trenches
9. Blue Movies
10. The Guild
11. Ultimate Fighting Championship
12. A Good Knight’s Quest
13. This Week in Startups
14. Coin-op TV
15. The Onion
16. The Crew (Sci-Fi)
17. Google Tech Talks
18. Mysteries of the Universe – The Dharma Initiative
19. Make Magazine: Best Weekend Projects
20. Tekzilla
** Of course, LOST made it to the Web Originals list. Twice. As did shows from people as different, yet seemingly related, as Zack Galifinakis and Jason Calacanis.
** Many of these shows are nominated for the Streamy Awards, coming up this weekend, which celebrates the year’s best in Web programming. Check out our predictions here.
Webisodes
Popular individual Webisodes for the month of March covered topics from Hot Tubs, to Toy Story, to an iPad review, to a little Twilight teaser for all the Twihards out there.
1. Bad Boys 3 starring Stiller & Seacrest, Stillerstrong
2. Hot Tub Time Machine, Why It Crackles
3. Dear John, Roadents
4. Toy Story 3 Holiday Greeting, The Official Disney-Pixar
5. Genital Hospital, PG Porn
6. Avatar – How it Should Have Ended, How It Should Have Ended
7. Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Borders Live at 01
8. Bachmann Sex Clinic, Newsish
9. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Trailer, Trailer Addict
10. Lou Charloff – Herschel the Magnificent Jew, Old Jews Telling Jokes
11. The Muppets: Stand By Me, The Muppets on YouTube
12. Live Stream, The White House Live
13. Janice Y. K. Lee Discusses The Piano Teacher, Borders Book Club
14. Mossberg: iPad is More than an Oversized iPhone, Walt Mossberg: Personal Technology
15. George A. Romero Talks About Survival of the Dead, WatchMojo.com - Film
16. Fubar, Trenches
17. Plastic Bag, Future States
18. Daylight Savings Time, Penn Says
19. Letters to Juliet, Trailer Park Movies
20. Jesse James Breaks His Silence, E! News Now (episode currently offline)
** We aren’t sure what the White House and Disney will think about sharing this list with the entries at #5 and #8, but hey, it is what it is.
That’s it for this month. Let us know what you think and what other data you’d like to see from us – we’ll do our best to publish it in the April Edition of What You Watched.
