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Week 10 of the 2003/04 Season (11/24-11/30/03)

Primetime:

In its 10th week (Thanksgiving week) of the 02/03 season, Cable captured more than 50% of total TV viewing, surpassing Broadcast by an impressive 6.4 share points. In addition, Cable surpassed last week's record and achieved its highest delivery and household rating to date this 02/03 season. Compared to year ago, Cable's share jumped about four share points as Broadcast's fell more than three to a season low 45 share level. Five out of the total seven nets experienced share declines this week with NBC and Fox posting the largest decline.

For the second time in cable history, Cable outperformed the Broadcast seven networks during a sweeps month in November 2003 - delivering a 49.3 HH share while Broadcast garnered a 48.1 HH share level. Cable delivered 698,000 more homes; 0.7 HH rating points & 1.2 HH share points than Broadcast. Compared to year ago, Cable's share soared up almost 4 share points whereas Broadcast's declined about two points thanks primarily to NBC's weak performance.

Cable is performing great in fourth quarter 2003, as viewership is up a quarter of a million homes from year ago; rating rose 1.9 points; and share climbed about three share points to a 47.8 level. Conversely, Broadcast’s share level is down this year v. year ago greatly thanks mainly to NBC’s poor performance with its new programming line up as viewership is down more than 12%.

As the new 03-04 season continues to unfold - Cable manages to capture 48% of total TV viewing. In fact, the spread between Cable and Broadcast has decreased to only about three share points. In addition, Cable has experienced significant gains across all of its audience measurements from year ago –delivering more than 2.5 million more homes; +1.9 HH rating points; and +3.0 HH share points.

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Total Day:

Ad Supported Cable delivered 19.8 million homes in the 10th week of the 03/04 Season, representing an increase of 2.0 million viewers from last year on a Total Day basis. Cable’s household ratings increased by 1.6 points to end at 18.3 and the share increased by 2.4 points to end at 52.0. Cable’s share was once again greater than that of the Broadcast Networks (4 Net.), with the difference being a solid 13.6 points. The broadcast networks made gains in impressions and ratings, while it experienced a decline in share.

Cable, to date, in the fourth quarter, has a strong lead over the broadcast networks. It ended with a 49.9 share, 1.9 points above Broadcast’s level. Ratings were up 0.9 points to finish at 16.8, and share increased 1.9 points from last year. The Broadcast Networks have experienced a slight increase in viewership and ratings, while share has declined.

For this season, cable rose to 18.2 million homes, up 1.3 million homes from last year. Cable’s ratings increased by 1.0 point to end at 16.8 and its share rose to 49.9, an increase of 2.0 points from last year. The broadcast networks experienced an increase in impressions and ratings, while share declined by 0.5 points to end at 39.6.

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Source: Nielsen Galaxy.