Week 49 of the 2002/03 Season (8/25-9/1/03)

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Week 49 of the 2002/03 Season (8/25-9/1/03)

Primetime:

Cable delivered a 55.9 share in the 49th week of the 02-03 Broadcast Season, out-delivering the seven nets by an astounding 20.5 share points among households. Cable also continued to outperform the seven nets by 11.9 million homes and 11.1 HH rating points. Compared to year ago, Cable's share grew about three share points whereas Broadcast's household share declined about 1.5 points. In fact, all of Broadcast's audience measurements experienced declines this week as six out of the total seven nets experienced erosion with Fox experiencing a 15% fall this week.

In Third Quarter to date, Cable is outperforming Broadcast’s seven nets by a remarkable 19.3 share points. Cable is delivering 32 million homes; 30 household rating points; and a 55.4 household share. Compared to year ago, Cable is up 2.2 share points while Broadcast is down 1.4 points to a low 36.1. Five out of the total seven nets are experiencing share declines to date.

As the season winds down, Cable continues to out-perform the seven nets by a healthy 4.1 share points. Cable is delivering 31.3 million homes, garnering a 29.3 HH rating, and earning a 49.4 share. Compared to year ago, cable is experiencing healthy gains whereas Broadcast is down across all audience measures. The seven networks have lost 617,000 viewers to date and are experiencing significant rating and share losses compared to last year’s levels. NBC is the main driver of share loss partly due to telecast’s of the Olympics last year.

Download Primetime Spreadsheet

Total Day:

Ad Supported Cable delivered 18.1 million homes in the 49th week of the 02/03 Season, representing an increase of 900,000 viewers from last year on a Total Day basis. Cable’s household ratings increased 0.9 points from a year ago to 17.0 and the share increased by 1.7 points to end at 54.2. Cable’s share was once again greater than that of the Broadcast Networks (4 Net.), with the difference being a commanding 20.4 points. The broadcast networks were up slightly in impressions and ratings and had a decline in share.

Cable, to date, in the third quarter, has a strong lead over the broadcast networks. It ended with a 54.1 share, 21.0 points above Broadcast’s level. Ratings were up 0.8 points to finish at 17.1, and share increased 1.2 points from last year. The Broadcast Networks have experienced a slight increase in viewership, and have suffered decreases in ratings and share.

For this season, cable rose to 18.1 million homes, up 1.4 million homes from last year. Cable’s ratings increased by 1.1 points to end at 16.9 and its share rose to 51.3, an increase of 2.0 points from last year. The broadcast networks continued to experience declines from last year. It sustained losses across the board, as impressions fell, ratings declined by 0.1 to end at 12.3 and share decreased by 1.6 points to end at 37.1.

Download Total Day Spreadsheet

Source: Nielsen Galaxy.

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