Japanese company Video Research has released its analysis the influence of “Timeshift” options, the ability to view television programs after they aired. In their research, stretching from March 31 to June 29 in 300 households in Japan, “One Piece” ranks highest among anime programs.

An average was taken of the viewership percentage, post broadcast, of the 3 month long research period over a sample of 300 households, roughly 800 people, based on total viewership percentage divided by the amount of episodes the broadcast aired.

Among the results, One Piece came in 16th (first in anime-only ranking) with an average of 4.5% while other anime such as “Dragon Ball Kai” came in 21st (3.8% and second in anime-only ranking), “Doraemon” was 26th (3.4%), Case Closed! (Detective Conan) was 43rd (2.3%).

With One Piece airing on the Japanese television channel Fuji TV on Sundays at 9:30 a.m., it is possible that a substantial amount of the Japanese One Piece fans prefer to watch it later, instead of waking up early in the morning.

Taking this research into account, looking at the results to the ratings of the week of June 30th — where “One Piece” was the 4th highest rated anime series of the week with 7.3% — “One Piece” is actually the second most viewed anime in Japan. (Japanese favorite “Sazae-san” and “Chibimaruko-chan” not even placing on the Top 50 list published by “Video Research”)

This makes it important to take into account the viewership percentage for these post-broadcast viewers when looking at the viewership ratings of anime programs in Japan.

Source: Video Research