Industry News
Big Swings for Cable Ratings in Q1
March 31, 2009
Thirteen of ad-supported cable’s top 40 networks notched double-digit ratings gains in the first quarter of 2009, a period that was also marked by a few violent shifts in the other direction.
According to Nielsen ratings data for the three months ended March 29, while the first- and second-tier nets accounted for an aggregate 5.2 percent increase in nightly deliveries, a handful of networks sustained declines of 10 percent or more in prime.
As expected, USA Network swept all three demos and total viewers, averaging 1.54 million adults 25-54 (an increase of 18 percent versus the first quarter of 2008), 1.46 million viewers 18-49 (up 15 percent year-over-year) and 665,000 18-34s (up 16 percent). All told, USA drew an average nightly audience of 3.26 million total viewers, an improvement of 12 percent versus the year-ago period.
Second place on the quarter went to Fox News Channel, which has been on a tear, averaging 2.26 million viewers, representing 25 percent year-over-year growth. The news net boosted its standing among the core news demo by 20 percent, averaging 515,000 adults 25-54.
TNT closed out the quarter in third place, averaging 2.15 million viewers, a 2 percent uptick. The Turner net grabbed second among adults 25-54 (1.08 million, up 5 percent), while taking third among viewers 18-49 (1.02 million, up 1 percent) and 18-34 (455,000, up 2 percent).
Fourth place went to TBS, which slipped 7 percent in prime with an average delivery of 1.86 million viewers. After TBS won the 18-34 demo outright in 2008, the net slipped 10 percent, averaging 635,000. TBS also finished second among 18-49s (1.11 million, down 6 percent) and claimed third with the 25-54 set (961,000, a drop of 5 percent versus Q1 ‘08).
Nickelodeon/Nick-at-Nite averaged 1.86 million viewers between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.––Nick programs for the first two hours of prime before handing the baton to the older-skewing NAN at 10 p.m.––a dip of 2 percent versus the same time a year ago. Through March 22, Nick averaged a kids-market best 1.01 million kids 6-11 between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., down 13 percent versus the year-ago period. The Viacom net also drew 1.46 million kids 2-11, a small decline versus 1.55 million in Q1 ‘08.
Rounding out the top 10 are: ESPN, which soared from ninth place to sixth with 1.56 million viewers, a jump of 13 percent; A&E, which grew 6 percent to 1.54 million viewers; Cartoon Network, which averaged 1.47 million viewers in Q1, an improvement of 24 percent year-over-year; ABC Family, up 16 percent to 1.41 million nightly viewers and FX, which remained in the upper reaches with 1.35 million viewers, a decrease of 4 percent.
Among cable nets that ranked between #11 and #40 in prime, Headline News showed the greatest quarter-to-quarter percentage increase, growing 54 percent with an average audience of 656,000 viewers. Also making great strides in Q1 09 were: Oxygen, which grew its nightly deliveries by 24 percent, averaging 444,000 viewers; MSNBC, up 23 percent to 957,000 viewers; BET, growing 20 percent with 755,000 total viewers; Lifetime Movie Network (up 18 percent to 651,000); Food Network (up 17 percent to 1.02 million); National Geographic Channel (up 16 percent to 493,000) and Soap Net (up 11 percent to 343,000).
The five nets that lost the most ground in the quarter were: MTV, which fell 17 percent with 859,000 viewers; Spike TV, down 13 percent (1.18 million); Lifetime, down 12 percent (1.24 million); truTV, down 12 percent (1.13 million) and CNN, which dropped 10 percent to 1.13 million viewers.
On the news front, MSNBC took second in the demo for the first time, averaging 346,000 adults 25-54 (up 6 percent), versus CNN’s 343,000 (down 23 percent).
Non-ad-supported Disney Channel took third among all basic cable nets, averaging 2.24 million viewers in prime, down 9 percent versus the first quarter of 2008, when it drew 2.46 million viewers. The Mouse maintained its hold on the three core kids demos, averaging 1.21 million K2-11, 926,000 K6-11 (down 11 percent) and 773,000 ‘tweens 9-14 (down 8 percent).
Article from MediaWeek: Source
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