Week 18 of the 2003/04 Season (1/19-1/25/04)

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Week 18 of the 2003/04 Season (1/19-1/25/04)

Primetime:

Cable delivered 35.5 million homes in its fourth week of 1Q04 – up a considerable 5.2 million homes from year ago. In addition, Cable’s HH rating and HH share jumped up 4.3 points and 7.2 points, respectively, from last year. This was mainly due to the Super Bowl appearing on Broadcast last year. As Cable’s viewership continued to grow, Broadcasts’ erosion was fueled by ABC’s poor performance (no Super Bowl) as the net share fell 10.7 points to end at 7.7. NBC experienced large gains, due in great part to the Golden Globe Awards. Overall, Broadcast was down 6.3 million homes, 6.3 rating points and 9.6 share points.

As the new 03-04 season continues to unfold - 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 2.8 million more homes; +2.0 HH rating points; and +3.2 HH share points.

Download Primetime Spreadsheet

Total Day:

Ad Supported Cable delivered 20.2 million homes in the 18th week of the 03/04 Season, representing an increase of 1.5 million viewers from last year on a Total Day basis. Cable’s household ratings increased by 1.1 points to end at 18.6 and the share increased by 3.2 points to end at 53.1. Cable’s share was once again greater than that of the Broadcast Networks (4 Net.), with the difference being a very solid 16.9 points. The broadcast networks had losses in all audience measures.

Cable, to date, in the first quarter, has a strong lead over the broadcast networks. It ended with a 52.1 share, 14.2 points above Broadcast’s level. Ratings were up 1.2 point to finish at 18.5, and share increased 2.5 points from last year. The Broadcast Networks have experienced decreases in delivery, ratings and share.

For this season, cable rose to 18.9 million homes, up 1.5 million homes from last year. Cable’s ratings increased by 1.2 points to end at 17.5 and its share rose to 51.0, an increase of 2.3 points from last year. The broadcast networks experienced an increase in impressions, while ratings remained constant and share declined by 0.8 points to end at 38.7.

Download Total Day Spreadsheet

Source: Nielsen Galaxy.

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