Where You Are: Home > CAB Research > '03/04 Weekly Audience Measures

Week 15 of the 2003/04 Season (12/29/03-1/4/04)

Primetime:

Happy New Year!!! In its first week of 2004, Cable surpassed Broadcast once again by an amazing 7.4 share points and hit the 50 share mark for the sixth consecutive time. Additionally, Cable delivered 4.9 million more homes and 4.5 more HH rating points than the seven networks. Cable continues to gain momentum as ratings continue to experience healthy year to year gains – delivery up 3.2 million homes; HH rating jumped 2.5 points and share soared 4.2 points to a 51.9 level this week. Conversely, Broadcast continues to decline week after week, as share fell 10% from year ago. Broadcast’s decline was driven mainly by Fox’s (-30%) and ABC’s (-9%) weak performances this week.

As the new 03-04 season unfolds - Cable continues to capture half of total TV viewing. In fact, Cable is outperforming Broadcast’s share level slightly to date whereas last season there existed a four share point spread between the two mediums. Cable’s niche programming continues to capture the hearts of viewers with rating gains across all of its audience measurements from year ago –delivering more than 2.5 million more homes; +2.0 HH rating points; and +3.0 HH share points.

Download Primetime Spreadsheet

Total Day:

Ad Supported Cable delivered 21.4 million homes in the 15th 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 1.5 points to end at 19.7 and the share increased by 3.0 points to end at 53.8. Cable’s share was once again greater than that of the Broadcast Networks (4 Net.), with the difference being a solid 16.6 points. The broadcast networks had a slight increase in delivery and suffered losses in ratings and share.

For this season, cable rose to 18.8 million homes, up 1.6 million homes from last year. Cable’s ratings increased by 1.1 points to end at 17.3 and its share rose to 50.9, an increase of 2.2 points from last year. The broadcast networks experienced an increase in impressions and ratings, while share declined by 0.6 points to end at 38.8.

During the month of December in 2003, cable delivered 19.6 million homes, an increase of 1.8 million from the previous year. Cable’s ratings increased by 1.4 to increase at 18.1 and share increased by 2.6 points to end at 52.7. Cable held a solid 15.5 share lead over the broadcast networks. Broadcast made gains in delivery and ratings compared to last year, but declined in share by 0.6 points.

Download Total Day Spreadsheet

Source: Nielsen Galaxy.