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Ad-Supported Cable Takes Steam Out of Broadcast Premieres in First Official Week of 2003/2004 Television Season

Cable Has Closed Opening Week Share Gap by 19 Points in Four Years and is Now Running Almost Neck-and-Neck With the Broadcast Ne

October 1, 2003

Ad-supported cable ran virtually neck-and-neck with the seven broadcast networks in primetime viewership during the first official week of the 2003/2004 television season—a period in which the broadcast networks premiered 60 primetime shows. According to a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data for September 22-28, ad-supported cable recorded an average primetime U.S. household share of 47.5 versus 49.9 for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB and PAX combined.

The primetime share gap between ad-supported cable and the broadcast networks in the season’s first official week has progressively diminished by almost 19 points in four years: from a difference of 20.9 points in 1999/2000 to only 2.4 points in 2003/2004.

For the week, ad supported cable was up 9 percent (versus the same period last year) in primetime U.S. household delivery, 7.4 percent in rating, and 6.7 percent in share. Collectively, the seven broadcast networks were down 1.2 percent in delivery, 2.7 percent in rating, and 3.1 percent in share.

Individually, five of the seven national broadcast networks experienced across-the-board audience declines during the season’s first official week, with NBC posting the largest absolute losses.

FIRST OFFICIAL WEEK OF TV SEASON:
PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP

2003/2004 vs. 2002/2003

AD-SUPPORTED CABLE VIEWERSHIP VS. BROADCAST
Primetime=Mon thru Sat 8–11pm/Sun 7–11pm
U.S. HH DELIVERY (000) U.S. HH RATING U.S. HH SHARE
03/04 02/03 %Diff 03/04 02/03 %Diff 03/04 02/03 %Diff
Ad-Supported 31,437 28,837 + 9.0 29.0 27.0 + 7.4 47.5 44.5 + 6.7
Cable
ABC 7,577 7,004 + 8.2 7.0 6.6 + 6.1 11.5 10.9 + 5.5
CBS 10,085 9,702 + 3.9 9.3 9.1 + 2.2 15.2 15.0 + 1.3
NBC 9,058 9,521 – 4.9 8.4 8.9 – 5.6 13.7 14.7 – 6.8
FOX 4,312 4,750 – 9.2 4.0 4.5 –11.1 6.5 7.2 – 9.7
UPN 2,837 2,988 – 5.1 2.6 2.8 – 7.1 4.2 4.5 – 6.7
WB 2,491 2,767 –10.0 2.3 2.6 –11.5 3.7 4.1 – 9.8
PAX 608 913 –33.4 0.6 0.9 –33.3 0.9 1.4 –35.7
4 Bdcst Nets* 29,663 29,539 + 0.4 27.4 27.7 – 1.2 44.8 45.6 – 1.8
Weighted Gross
7 Bdcst Nets** 33,080 33,476 – 1.2 30.5 31.4 – 2.7 49.9 51.5 – 3.1
Weighted Gross
* ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX
** ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB, PAX
Source: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data, 9/22/03-9/28/03 vs. 9/23/02-9/29/02

AD-SUPPORTED CABLE HAS CLOSED

FIRST WEEK PRIMETIME SHARE GAP
AD-SUPPORTED CABLE 7 BROADCAST NETWORKS DIFFERENCE
U.S. HH SHARE U.S. HH SHARE
Week #1 2003/2004 47.5 49.9 2.4
Week #1 2002/2003 44.5 52.5 8.0
Week #1 2001/2002 44.3 53.1 8.8
Week #1 2000/2001 39.8 57.7 17.9
Week #1 1999/2000 39.0 59.9 20.9

Source: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data

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Content © 2005 by Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (www.onetvworld.org). Reprinted with Permission.