Greg Grunberg, Ali Larter, and Sendhil Ramamurthy of Heroes
NBC

Heroes: It may be 59th in viewers' hearts, but it's much higher than that in the eye of the advertiser.

There's a fascinating article in Forbes about what shows make the most money — which isn't necessarily the same question as which shows get the most viewers.

"It's not necessarily just eyeballs that advertisers are buying here," explains Ed Gentner, senior vice president of video investment activation at MediaVest of advertiser interest. "It's the right eyeballs."

You will not be surprised by some of the most valuable eyeballs if you have ever seen the "Nuts And Gum" sequence on The Simpsons, wherein Homer says, "I'm a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me — no matter how dumb my suggestions are!"

Having the right eyeballs, after the jump...

 

The right eyeballs, it turns out, are often young male eyeballs, like the ones that watch Heroes — and presumably 24, which comes in second for hourly revenue despite lower viewership numbers than the next five shows on the list. (It brings in more money per half-hour than anything except American Idol.)

Heroes, Forbes notes, is 59th among network shows in viewers, but it's eighth in advertising revenue. Some of that reflects the fact that ad prices don't always reflect the entirety of a drop in viewers that a show may have suffered since the last upfronts, but some of it has to do with that eyeball quality disparity.

It's also interesting to note the presence of shows like Worst Week. which looks to be here simply because it airs on CBS Monday night and benefits from basking in the angelic glow of Two And A Half Men. In a lot of ways, the Worst Week money isn't Worst Week money — it's more Two And A Half Men money. Same with Private Practice, which airs after Grey's Anatomy.

Finally, keep in mind that these estimates don't appear to include any kind of comparison to the costs of shows. "Moneymaker" is a misleading term in that respect, because it appears to be purely a revenue-side comparison. Much of the impetus for the growth of reality and variety shows lies in cost considerations, so this list is fine for what it is, but to know what the real moneymakers are, you'd have to know what it costs to produce them.

I apologize for losing the hat-tip on this; I did see a mention of it somewhere but cannot recreate it now. If I figure it out, I will add it.

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