CABLETELEVISION ADVERTISING BUREAU
830 THIRD AVENUE, NEW YORK, NY 10022 (212) 508-1200

Back to Web Site

Ad-Supported Cable Breaks Primetime Share Record for the Third Consecutive Week

Cable Tallies a 55.6 Share in Week #42—An All-Time High for Any Reporting Period

July 16, 2003

For the third week in a row, ad-supported cable broke its all-time primetime share record by notching a 55.6 level during the July 7-13 reporting period. Cable’s share was 2.8 points (+5.3 percent) higher than the same period last year; and exceeded the collective share of the seven national broadcast networks by 19.4 points. Broadcasters’ aggregate share was down 1.9 points (–5.0 percent) from a year ago.

In other primetime audience measures for Week #42 of the 2002/2003 TV season, ad-supported cable’s average U.S. household delivery rose 2.2 million homes (+7.4 percent) versus last year; and its rating increased 1.8 points (+6.3 percent). Cable outperformed broadcast by 11.2 million homes and 10.5 rating points.

Individually, four of the seven broadcast networks had declines in primetime share.

This is the 23rd consecutive summer week that ad-supported cable has recorded a 50+ primetime share.

For the 2002/2003 season-to-date (September 23, 2002–July 17, 2003), ad-supported cable is leading the broadcast networks in primetime share by 1.6 points: 48.5 to 46.9.

WEEK #42 PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP: 2002/03 vs. 2001/02

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
02/03 01/02 %Diff 02/03 01/02 %Diff 02/03 01/02 %Diff
Ad-Supported

Cable

32,219 29,997 + 7.4 30.2 28.4 + 6.3 55.6 52.8 + 5.3
ABC 4,359 4,366 – 0.2 4.1 4.1 NC 7.5 7.7 – 2.6
CBS 5,701 5,702 NC 5.3 5.4 – 1.9 9.8 10.0 – 2.0
NBC 5,801 5,433 + 6.8 5.4 5.1 + 5.9 10.0 9.6 + 4.2
FOX 3,568 4,949 –27.9 3.3 4.7 –29.8 6.2 8.8 –29.5
UPN 1,821 1,590 +14.5 1.7 1.5 +13.3 3.1 2.8 +10.7
WB 2,244 1,831 +22.6 2.1 1.7 +23.5 3.8 3.2 +18.8
PAX 616 726 –15.2 0.6 0.7 –14.3 1.1 1.3 –15.4
4 Bdcst Nets* 18,294 19,112 – 4.3 17.1 18.1 – 5.4 31.6 33.7 – 6.2
Weighted Gross
7 Bdcst Nets** 21,006 21,609 – 2.8 19.7 20.5 – 3.9 36.2 38.1 – 5.0
Weighted Gross
* ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX
** ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB, PAX
Source: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data, 7/7/03-7/13/03 vs. 7/8/02-7/14/02

# # #

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