It's not just size of the audience that matters; How TV measurement is moving beyond mass to track viewer behavior.(News)

Advertising Age, March, 2008 by Steinberg, Brian

Byline: BRIAN STEINBERG

Each day, large, loyal audiences tune in to ABC soap operas such as "General Hospital'' and "One Life to Live.'' Sounds like an easy sell, right? But with that audience splintering into groups that access the same program on different platforms and at different times, things get difficult.

By ABC's estimates, its soaps reach about 57 million people in an average three-month period via the Walt Disney broadcast network as well as its cable outlet, SoapNet, said Brian Frons, president-daytime, Disney ABC Television Group. But a stay-at-home viewer who watches "General Hospital'' at 3 p.m ET, its regularly scheduled time, might be quite different from a working person who watches it at 10 p.m. on cable (not to mention one who...

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