USA Secures Three-Peat in '08

USA Network nailed down its third consecutive annual ratings victory in 2008, averaging a record 2.86 million viewers in prime time, a 7 percent improvement over its year-ago delivery. The net took two of the top three demos, averaging 1.34 million adults 25-54, an increase of 9 percent versus 2007, while serving up 1.32 million viewers 18-49 (up 7 percent). Each of the three deliveries now stands as ad-supported cable’s historic high-water mark, per Nielsen ratings data. While USA grew its share of viewers 18-34 by 6 percent, averaging 598,000 members of the demo, the net was eclipsed by TBS, which blew up its delivery by 16 percent, averaging a cable-high 639,000 viewers. As has been the case for the last three years, TNT and ESPN took the two and three spots in prime. The last time TNT won the yearly ratings race was in 2005, when the Turner net averaged 2.57 million viewers. TNT in 2008 drew 2.21 million prime-time viewers, flat versus the prior-year average. The net put together its best demo numbers with the 25-54 set, averaging a second-best 1.07 million viewers, up 3 percent versus 2007. TNT took fourth among 18-49s, growing 4 percent to 1.02 million viewers, while gaining 3 percent among the 18-34 set (438,000). Third-place ESPN enjoyed steady gains in 2008, growing its total nightly audience by 9 percent, to 2.12 million viewers. The sports net took the bronze across all three major demos, upping its share of 18-49s by 8 percent to 1.04 million viewers, while bettering its prior-year delivery of 25-54s by 11 percent (1.03 million). ESPN’s 18-34 audience grew 6 percent last year, to 513,000. Thanks to the most exciting election cycle in recent memory, Fox News Channel enjoyed its best ratings year, leapfrogging to the number-four spot in prime with 2.06 million total viewers. That delivery marked a 41 percent improvement over 2007’s 1.47 million viewers. In the core news demo, FNC grew 42 percent, averaging 497,000 adults 25-54. While TBS was bumped from its customary spot as ad-supported cable’s number-four net, the Turner property enjoyed a stellar year, growing its total prime-time audience 8 percent to 1.97 million viewers, while winning the 18-34 demo outright and taking second among 18-49s (1.13 million, a 10 percent increase over the previous year). TBS also claimed fourth among adults 25-54, growing 8 percent to 995,000. Rounding out the year’s top 10 were: Nickelodeon/Nick-at-Nite, Lifetime, A&E, Cartoon Network and Hallmark Channel. Nick/Nick-at-Nite enjoyed a particularly strong year, surging 30 percent to sixth place after a disappointing 2007. The network delivered 1.7 million viewers in prime, while growing its 18-49 delivery by 39 percent, averaging 602,000. Nick/NAN also saw a sharp uptick in adults 18-34, rising 38 percent in the demo for an eighth-place 326,000 viewers. Lifetime fell from the top five for the first time since 2006, averaging 1.49 million viewers in prime, a drop of 3 percent. The net took seventh among adults 25-54, growing 1 percent to 645,000. Among women 25-54, Lifetime was up 2 percent, with 493,000 viewers, while the net inched up 1 percent among women 18-49, averaging 471,000. Younger viewers were also steady, as the net saw its share of women 18-34 hop 1 percent to 192,000. After The Sopranos helped A&E grow 20 percent in 2007, the network retained that audience last year, averaging 1.36 million viewers. A&E was strongest among adults 25-54, taking fifth among all ad-supported cable nets with 714,000 members of the demo, an improvement of 9 percent year-over-year. Thanks to a new strategy of programming original dramas like The Cleaner, while retaining hit unscripted series (Intervention, The First 48), A&E continued to make headway among the 18-49 crowd in 2008. The net upped its average viewership among members of the core demo by 8 percent, serving up 687,000 viewers in the category. Cartoon Network was also flat, averaging 1.34 million viewers, edging out tenth-place Hallmark by less than 1,000 viewers. Hallmark grew 7 percent in 2008. The remainder of cable’s top 40 nets saw only one double-digit drop, as TV Land fell 12 percent to 780,000 total viewers. All told, 22 of the 72 ad-supported channels posted overall ratings declines last year, which translates into gains for 70 percent of all Nielsen-measured cable outlets. Of the top 40 ad-supported nets, MSNBC saw the biggest relative improvement in 2008, soaring 82 percent with an average of 925,000 total viewers. CNN also enjoyed a huge bounce from the election cycle, finishing 12th in prime with 1.29 million viewers, an increase of 69 percent versus the year-ago period. Both news nets saw meteoric gains in the core news demo, as CNN upped its share among 25-54s by 86 percent (455,000), and MSNBC grew 83 percent (369,000). That said, while CNN closed the demo gap, the surge was not sufficient to unseat its main rival, as FNC held onto the lead by a margin of around 42,000 viewers. Headline News also got a lift in 2008, growing its nightly audience 33 percent with an average delivery of 509,000 viewers. Other big growers were: Oxygen, which built up its total nightly audience by 31 percent with 392,000 viewers; Bravo, which soared 25 percent to 751,000 viewers in a year that saw the NBC Universal net up its core demos by 53 percent (318,000 women 18-49) and 57 percent (165,000 women 18-34) and Lifetime Movie Network (up 25 percent to 565,000 viewers). Also showing sharp gains were: ABC Family, which nearly cracked the top 10 with 1.31 million viewers, a 12 percent increase; and Food Network, which cooked up an 11 percent increase in prime with 888,000 total viewers. And while their respective increases weren’t quite in the double-digit range, E!, History and Comedy Central all enjoyed significant lifts in 2008. Comcast-owned E! grew 9 percent last year, averaging 552,000 viewers, while History and Comedy Central both moved the needle 8 percent, as the former averaged 1.18 million viewers, while the Viacom-owned CC drew slightly less than 1.1 million viewers. In addition to the aforementioned TV Land, the most severe losses were sustained by MTV, which hasn’t finished in the top 20 since 2006, and the re-branded truTV, which suffered a sharp downturn after a wildly successful 2007 campaign. After seeming to stabilize itself a year ago, MTV fell 9 percent in 2008, averaging 897,000 total viewers in prime. And the first year as truTV left something to be desired, as the network formerly known as Court TV fell 8 percent to 1.09 million viewers. (In 2007, Court TV enjoyed a 27 percent nightly ratings boost, finishing 15th among ad-supported cable nets with 1.19 million viewers.) On the bright side, demos were relatively stable at truTV, as the net grew its share of 18-49s by 1 percent (471,000) and 25-54s dipped 1 percent (513,000). The core TV demo was strong for cable in 2008, as 31 of the top 40 nets were flat-to-up among adults 18-49. The year’s top performers in the demo were: USA, TBS, ESPN, TNT, FX, A&E, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Spike TV and Sci Fi Channel. Non-ad-supported Disney Channel closed out 2008 as the second most-watched network in the basic cable universe, falling 12 percent to 2.37 million total viewers. The Mouse continued to outperform the competition in the core kiddie demos, but lost ground among the ‘tweens set, falling 15 percent among viewers 9-14 (838,000). Disney’s share of kids 6-11 also constricted, dropping 11 percent to 1 million. In accordance with historical precedent, the National Football League accounted for 13 of the year’s top 20 telecasts on ad-supported cable. ESPN’s Sept. 15 installment of Monday Night Football drew a record 18.6 million viewers, as the Dallas Cowboys squeaked past division rival Philadelphia by a 41-37 margin. For the season, ESPN’s MNF telecasts averaged 12 million viewers, up 7 percent from last season’s 11.2 million. In a year of firsts, CNN’s coverage of the 2008 presidential election culminated in the year’s second-largest delivery on cable. Some 15.3 million viewers were tuned in as the news net called the race for Sen. Barack Obama shortly after 11 p.m. EST on the night of Nov. 4. The hour also featured Sen. John McCain’s concession speech and President-elect Obama’s address to supporters in Chicago’s Wicker Park. Baseball also provided a big number, as Game 7 of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays drew 1.34 million viewers on the night of Oct. 19. Cable’s gain may have contributed to broadcast’s decline, however. By eliminating Boston, the Rays also neutralized one of the sport’s biggest draws, and ultimately the World Series suffered from the glaring absence of Big Papi and company. The five-game series between the Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies averaged just 13.6 million viewers on Fox, down 22 percent from the prior-year’s Red Sox/Rockies series, making it the least-watched World Series of all time.

Convergent TV

USA Secures Three-Peat in '08

Anthony Crupi

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Anthony Crupi