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Week 35 of the 2003/04 Season (5/17-5/23/04)

Primetime:

Cable continued to surpass the 50 share mark in its 35 week of the 03/04 season. As May 2004 sweeps winded down, Cable delivered 3.0 million more homes; 2.7 additional HH rating points; and 4.7 more HH share points than Broadcast this week. Compared to year ago, Cable experienced great audience gains whereas Broadcast’s viewers remained relatively on par to last year levels. Broadcasts’ slight share decline was driven by Fox’s (-19%) and NBC’s (-10%) steep drops.

Broadcast is being left behind in the dust as Cable continues to out pace the seven nets by an amazing 5.8 share points this Second Quarter 2004. Compared to year ago, Cable’s viewership has grown more than a million households whereas Broadcast’s has continued to decline as five out of the seven nets have lost viewers to date.

As the Official 03-04 season winds down - Cable continues to capture half of total TV viewing. In fact, Cable is outperforming Broadcast’s share level by more than two share points, whereas last season Broadcast surpassed Cable’s level. Cable’s niche programming continues to capture the hearts of viewers with rating gains across all of its audience measurements from year ago –delivering 1.9 million more homes; +1.3 HH rating points; and +2.3 HH share points.

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Total Day:

Ad Supported Cable delivered 18.4 million homes in the 35th week of the 03/04 Season, representing an increase of 1.0 million viewers from last year on a Total Day basis. Cable’s household ratings increased by 0.7 points from last year to end at 17.0 and the share increased by 1.7 points to end at 52.7. Cable’s share was once again greater than that of the Broadcast Networks (4 Net.), with the difference being a solid 16.2 points. The broadcast networks had decreases in all audience measures.

Cable, to date, in the second quarter, has a strong lead over the broadcast networks. It ended with a 53.2 share, 16.6 points above Broadcast’s level. Ratings were down 0.1 points to finish at 17.2, and share increased 0.5 points from last year. The Broadcast Networks have experienced an increase in delivery and share, and have suffered a decrease in ratings. Please note that same period last year was an irregular one due to war coverage of America invading Iraq.

For this season, cable rose to 18.9 million homes, up 914,000 homes from last year. Cable’s ratings increased by 0.6 points to end at 17.5 and its share rose to 51.7, an increase of 1.4 points from last year. The broadcast networks experienced an increase in impressions, ratings remained constant and share declined by 0.5 points to end at 38.0.

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Source: Nielsen Galaxy.