Timeshifts 'do better next to sibling'

Timeshift channels perform significantly better if placed next to their primary siblings in electronic programme guides, according to research.

Television consultants at Attentional cited the examples of UKTV Gold and UKTV Gold+1, which occupy slots 109 and 110 in the Sky EPG respectively. The audience of the timeshift is 63% that of the primary channel.

Meanwhile, the audience of ITV2+1 - Sky EPG number 184 - is just 13% that of ITV2, which is located at 118.

Dr Farid El-Husseini, the firm's head of econometrics, said it was a "discrepancy which significantly exceeds any loss that can be solely attributed to (ITV2+1's) low EPG position".

"The primary channel acts as a kind of advertiser for the content of its time-shifted variant provided they are next to each other on the EPG, when viewers can switch to the +1 variant with a single press of a button," he said.

The rapid increase in channels on the Sky EPG, and the closure of the waiting list to join the service, have led to broadcasters increasingly rearranging their own channels and exchanging positions with other operators.

Last month Discovery paid £1.4m in a part-exchange deal to get the prime 144 and 145 slots from Sumo.tv operator Cellcast.

Attentional believes it can also predict the effect on audience of channels moving position in the EPG. In a reshuffle in February Virgin Media TV moved Bravo 2 down 28 places and Virgin 1 up 29 places.

This coincided with a 35% decrease in viewing for Bravo 2. Virgin 1's viewing increased by 52%, though the change was also fuelled by the popularity of The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Positioning advantages also exist on platforms and services other than Sky, but a similar trend in exchanges and deals is not thought to have developed elsewhere.