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Ad-Supported Cable Scores 3-Point Primetime Share Gain Against Baseball Playoffs in Third Week of New Season

The Primetime Audiences of ABC, CBS and NBC Have Diminished Weekly Since the Official Launch of the 2003/2004 Season

October 16, 2003

Ad-supported cable recorded its third consecutive week of significant primetime audience gains in the new 2003/2004 television season despite a surge in viewership of the baseball playoffs, according to a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data for the October 6–12 reporting period. At the same time, ABC, CBS and NBC have experienced diminishing viewership levels from week-to-week since the season officially began on September 22nd.

Ad-supported cable’s average primetime U.S. household share for Week #3 of the ‘03/04 season was 46.5, up 7.4 percent from the same time last year. Its U.S. household delivery was almost 31 million homes—up 2.7 million homes (+9.5 percent versus ‘02/03); and its rating climbed 2 points to 28.5 (+7.5 percent). Collectively for the week, the seven national broadcast networks were down 2.5 percent in share, 0.5 percent in delivery and 2.1 percent in rating.

Individually, six of the seven broadcast networks recorded across-the-board audience declines in Week #3, with NBC having the largest absolute losses for the third straight week. FOX was the only broadcast network that was ahead of last year, thanks largely to its coverage of baseball’s league championships.

Since the 2003/2004 season’s opening week, ABC and CBS have each lost 11 percent in weekly delivery; and NBC’s delivery has declined by 14 percent.

THIRD WEEK OF NEW 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 Cable 30,922 28,243 + 9.5 28.5 26.5 + 7.5 46.5 43.3 + 7.4
ABC 6,739 6,802 – 0.9 6.2 6.4 – 3.1 10.2 10.5 – 2.9
CBS 8,999 9,459 – 4.9 8.3 8.9 – 6.7 13.5 14.5 – 6.9
NBC 7,767 8,818 –11.9 7.2 8.3 –13.3 11.7 13.6 –14.0
FOX 9,159 7,149 +28.1 8.4 6.7 +25.4 14.0 11.3 +23.9
UPN 3,167 3,438 – 7.9 2.9 3.2 – 9.4 4.6 5.1 – 9.8
WB 2,666 2,795 – 4.6 2.5 2.6 – 3.8 3.9 4.2 – 7.1
PAX 672 997 –32.6 0.6 0.9 –33.3 1.0 1.5 –33.3
4 Bdcst Nets* 31,720 31,413 + 1.0 29.3 29.4 – 0.6 48.0 48.5 – 1.0
Weighted Gross
7 Bdcst Nets** 35,536 35,730 – 0.5 32.8 33.5 – 2.1 53.6 55.0 – 2.5
Weighted Gross
* ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX
** ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB, PAX
Source: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data, 10/6/03-10/12/03 vs. 10/7/02-10/13/02

THE PRIMETIME AUDIENCES OF THE 3 LARGEST BROADCAST NETWORKS HAVE DECLINED EVERY WEEK SINCE THE START OF THE ‘03/04 TV SEASON
U.S. HH DELIVERY (000) U.S. HH RATING U.S. HH SHARE
Wk1 Wk 2 Wk3 Wk1 Wk 2 Wk3 Wk1 Wk 2 Wk3
ABC 7,577 7,037 6,739 7.0 6.5 6.2 11.5 10.6 10.2
CBS 10,085 9,446 8,999 9.3 8.7 8.3 15.2 14.2 13.5
NBC 9,058 8,033 7,767 8.4 7.4 7.2 13.7 12.1 11.7
Source: Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data, 10/6/03-10/12/03; 9/29/03-10/5/03; 9/22/03-9/28/03

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