FIRST OFF . . .

College students and working women--nearly 6 million of them--who watch daytime programs on the three major networks are not showing up in the A.C. Nielsen ratings, which measure only in-home viewing, CBS reported Wednesday in releasing results of a new study. CBS and ABC commissioned research on out-of-home daytime program viewing, and CBS executive David Poltrack said the new data “confirms our belief that the current out-of-home television viewing audience is both substantial and growing.” These unmeasured viewers, considered two of the most desirable demographic targets for advertisers, include 2.6 million women watching at work and 3.1 million college students who watch on campus facilities or in temporary residences. Poltrack, who is senior vice president of planning and research, CBS/Broadcast Group, also noted that “working women, long believed to be excluded from the daytime network television audience, are finding ways to fit daytime viewing into their work schedules.” The impact of the unmeasured female working women and college students on the audience for an average minute of daytime network programs amounts to a 5% addition to the measured audience. The study, conducted the week of April 10 by Bruskin & Associates, involved daily television interviews among 5,076 adult working women and 2,216 personal interviews with students at 19 colleges nationwide.