Week 17 of the 2002/03 Season (1/13-1/19/03)

Primetime:

Ad Supported Cable seized 1.6 million more viewers in Primetime this week vs year ago. Cable delivered 31.3 million homes and garnered a 29.3 HH rating with a 46.2 share this seventeenth week of the broadcast season. Compared to year ago, Cable’s HH rating and share jumped 1.2 and 1.4 points, respectively. Ad Supported Cable outperformed the Big 4 Broadcast networks whose ratings where fueled largely by NFL playoffs on CBS and “The Bachelorette” on ABC. In fact, only three networks (ABC, CBS, and UPN) out of the total seven experienced any viewership gains this week vs year ago. Collectively the seven networks gained 855,000 more viewers from year ago and experienced a slight share jump, up only three tenths of a point.

To date this season, Cable is experiencing minimal gains delivering 30.1 million homes, garnering a 28.2 HH rating, and earning a 46.2 share. Broadcast on the other hand is down across all audience measures. The seven networks have lost 444,000 viewers so far and are experiencing significant rating and share losses compared to last year’s levels. Broadcast’s share decline is primarily driven by ABC (-6%) and UPN (-16%). In fact, five out of the total seven networks are experiencing share losses compared to same period a year ago.

First Quarter is off to a great start as Cable is up over a million homes. In conjunction, Broadcast is also experiencing gains as rating and share are up slightly. Broadcast’s gain is being fueled by CBS and Fox whose share gains are up 7% and 16%, respectively.

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Total Day:

Ad Supported Cable rose to 18.1 million homes this week, an increase of 1.4 million viewers from last year on a Total Day basis. Cable’s ratings increased to a 17.0, up 1.2 points from last year and the share increased 2.5 points to finish at 49.2. Cable’s share was once again greater than that of the Broadcast Networks (4 Net.), with the difference being 9.6 points.

Cable, to date, in the first quarter, ended with a 49.4 share, 9.8 points above Broadcast’s level. Cable ratings were up 0.9 points to finish at 17.2, and its share increased 1.6 points from last year. The Broadcast Networks have experienced a decline in viewership.

For this season, cable rose to 17.3 million homes, up 740,000 homes from last year. Cable’s rating increased by 0.5 points to end at 16.2 and its share increased to finish at 48.7, an increase of 1.1 points from last year. The broadcast networks continued to experience rating decreases from last year. Ratings were down 0.4 to end at 13.2 and share was down 1.7 points to 39.5.

Download Total Day Spreadsheet

Source: Nielsen Galaxy.