Week 36 of the 2002/03 Season (5/26-6/1/03)

Primetime:

Ad Supported Cable delivered its highest Primetime share of the season this week, a 54.3. In its first week of the summer, Ad Supported Cable outperformed the Broadcast Networks by more than 15 share points. Cable’s delivery outshined Broadcasts’ by 9.4 million homes and its household rating performed 8.8 points above the seven networks level. Compared to year ago, Cable’s delivery grew 1.7 million homes as its rating and share jumped 1.3 and 2.0 points, respectively. Conversely, Broadcast continued to erode as viewership decreased and the share fell 1.8 points to a season low of 38.8. NBC was the clear driver of Broadcast’s decline this week as its household share level declined 23%.

In Second Quarter 2003 to date, Cable is outperforming Broadcast’s seven collective household share level by a healthy 4.6 points. Cable’s household delivery is 2.8 million above Broadcast’s and its household rating is surpassing Broadcast’s by 2.7 points. Compared to year ago, Cable is up a healthy 2.1 share points while Broadcast continues to erode. Six out of the total seven networks are down in household share with Fox being the only sole gainer this Quarter thanks to telecasts of “American Idol”.

To date this season, Cable is experiencing healthy gains vs year ago delivering 31.1 million homes, garnering a 29.1 HH rating, and earning a 47.7 share. Broadcast on the other hand is down across all audience measures. The seven networks have lost 819,000 viewers so far and are experiencing significant rating and share losses compared to last year’s levels. While four out of the seven nets are down in share, NBC is the clear driver of the share loss partly due to telecast’s of the Olympics last year.

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Total Day:

Ad Supported Cable delivered 18.6 million homes in the 36th week of the 02/03 Season, representing an increase of 1.3 million viewers from last year on a Total Day basis. Cable’s household ratings increased 1.0 points from a year ago to 17.4 and the share jumped 1.6 points to a 54.0 share level. Cable’s share was once again greater than that of the Broadcast Networks (4 Net.), with the difference being a commanding 20.1 points. The broadcast networks made small gains in viewership and ratings, but suffered a decline in its share.

Cable, to date, in the second quarter, has a strong lead over the broadcast networks. It ended with a 52.9 share, 16.6 points above Broadcast’s level. Ratings were up 1.7 points to finish at 17.3, and share increased 2.8 points from last year. The Broadcast Networks have experienced a slight increase in viewership and ratings in comparison to last year, while its share has decreased.

For this season, cable rose to 18.0 million homes, up 1.5 million homes from last year. Cable’s ratings increased by 1.2 points to end at 16.9 and its share rose to 50.4, an increase of 2.3 points from last year. The broadcast networks continued to experience declines from last year. It sustained losses across the board, as impressions fell by 87,000 homes, ratings declined by 0.2 to end at 12.9 and share decreased by 1.9 points to end at 38.4.

Download Total Day Spreadsheet

Source: Nielsen Galaxy.