CABLETELEVISION ADVERTISING BUREAU
830 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022 (212) 508-1200
CABLETELEVISION ADVERTISING BUREAU
830 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022 (212) 508-1200
Cable Outperforms the Seven Broadcast Networks in Primetime by a Record 19.8 Share Points
July 10, 2003
Ad-supported cable posted its highest-ever primetime U.S. household share of viewing—55.4 points—in the first week of July. According to a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data for the weekly reporting period of June 30–July 6, cable’s average primetime share was 19.8 points higher than the seven national broadcast networks combined—also a record.
In other primetime audience measures, ad-supported cable outdistanced the seven broadcast networks together by 10.9 million homes and 10.2 rating points. For the week, ad-supported cable was up 1.7 million homes (+5.9 percent), 1.2 rating points (+4.4 percent), and 1.8 share points (+3.4 percent) compared to the same period last year.
Collectively, the seven broadcast networks were down 650,000 homes (–3.2 percent), 0.8 rating point (–4.3 percent), and 2.0 share points (–5.3 percent) versus the year before. Individually, six of the seven broadcast networks had a decline in primetime share for the week.
This is the 22nd consecutive summer week that ad-supported cable has recorded a 50+ primetime share.
WEEK #41 PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP: 2002/03 vs. 2001/02 |
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AD-SUPPORTED CABLE VIEWERSHIP VS. BROADCAST |
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| Primetime=Mon thru Sat 8–11pm/Sun 7–11pm | |||||||||
| U.S. HH DELIVERY (000) | U.S. HH RATING | U.S. HH SHARE | |||||||
| 02/03 | 01/02 | %Diff | 02/03 | 01/02 | %Diff | 02/03 | 01/02 | %Diff | |
| Ad-Supported Cable | 30,332 | 28,646 | + 5.9 | 28.4 | 27.2 | + 4.4 | 55.4 | 53.6 | + 3.4 |
| ABC | 3,618 | 3,675 | – 1.6 | 3.4 | 3.5 | – 2.9 | 6.6 | 6.9 | – 4.3 |
| CBS | 5,446 | 6,009 | – 9.4 | 5.1 | 5.7 | –10.5 | 10.0 | 11.2 | –10.7 |
| NBC | 5,269 | 5,267 | NC | 4.9 | 5.0 | – 2.0 | 9.7 | 9.8 | – 1.0 |
| FOX | 3,750 | 3,815 | – 1.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 | – 2.8 | 6.9 | 7.3 | – 5.5 |
| UPN | 1,514 | 1,477 | + 2.5 | 1.4 | 1.4 | NC | 2.7 | 2.8 | – 3.6 |
| WB | 2,128 | 1,546 | +37.6 | 2.0 | 1.5 | +33.3 | 3.9 | 3.0 | +30.0 |
| PAX | 580 | 765 | –24.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | –28.6 | 1.1 | 1.4 | –21.4 |
| 4 Bdcst Nets* | 16,975 | 17,726 | – 4.2 | 15.9 | 16.8 | – 5.3 | 31.1 | 33.2 | – 6.3 |
| Weighted Gross | |||||||||
| 7 Bdcst Nets** | 19,417 | 20,066 | – 3.2 | 18.2 | 19.0 | – 4.3 | 35.6 | 37.6 | – 5.3 |
| Weighted Gross | |||||||||
| * ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX | |||||||||
| ** ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB, PAX | |||||||||
| Source: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data, 6/30/03-7/6/03 vs. 7/1/02-7/7/02 | |||||||||
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Content © 2005 by Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (www.onetvworld.org). Reprinted with Permission.