medialifemagazine.com
On cable, sports shows now dominate
By Toni Fitzgerald
Jul 9, 2008 - 12:05:14 AM
Lots of big sporting events have moved from broadcast to cable in recent years, including “Monday Night Football,” one of baseball’s league championship series and basketball’s conference title matchups.
Most of those games no longer drew spectacular audiences for broadcast, but on cable they’ve been big hits. Such sporting events dominated the top shows of the year on basic cable during the 2007-’08 regular season, according to Nielsen total viewer data analyzed by Horizon Media.
Fourteen of the 15 top programs this year were sporting events, including 12 “MNF” games on ESPN. Nineteen of the top 30 programs were sports, and just about every major sport on cable, like college football and basketball, had at least one game in the top 150.
Several of those top-rated games would have been seen on broadcast not too long ago, including the No. 1 show. That was a December “MNF” game between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens that averaged a cable-record 17.5 million total viewers.
Two Major League Baseball LCS games made the top 100. Last year, those games aired on Fox; this year, TBS began the first season of a seven-year deal that splits the National and American League series between broadcast and cable.
The NBA All-Star Game, which aired on broadcast until 2003, ranked No. 33 for the year, averaging 6.33 million.
March’s Duke-North Carolina was the highest-ranked college basketball game, averaging 5.6 million viewers and ranking 59th overall.
Movies also fared well on cable during the regular season, which ran from September to May. Nickelodeon’s short films “Fairly Odd Baby” and “SpongeBob Atlantis Pantis” were the only non-sports shows to rank in the top 19, while movies from ABC Family and Disney also made the top 30.
The presidential election also proved a strong draw. Three debates between the Democratic presidential candidates made the top 25, bettering the NBA playoffs and USA’s WWE.
|
TOP 25 CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on total viewers
2007-’08 regular season (September-May) |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (PATRIOTS/RAVENS)
|
ESPN
|
17522
|
|
2
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (PACKERS/BRONCOS)
|
ESPN
|
14019
|
|
3
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (DOLPHINS/STEELERS)
|
ESPN
|
13119
|
|
4
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (COWBOYS/BILLS)
|
ESPN
|
13028
|
|
5
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (BEARS/VIKINGS)
|
ESPN
|
12763
|
|
6
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (COLTS/JAGUARS)
|
ESPN
|
12496
|
|
7
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (PATRIOTS/BENGALS)
|
ESPN
|
11834
|
|
8
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (TITANS/SAINTS)
|
ESPN
|
10792
|
|
9
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON GAME (2007 - PACKERS VS. COWBOYS)
|
NFLN
|
10054
|
|
10
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (RAVENS/STEELERS)
|
ESPN
|
9887
|
|
11
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (TITANS/BRONCOS)
|
ESPN
|
9619
|
|
12
|
MLB DIVISION SERIES (INDIANS-YANKEES 4)
|
TBSC
|
9232
|
|
13
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (49ERS/SEAHAWKS)
|
ESPN
|
8958
|
|
14
|
FOP MOVIE FAIRLY ODD BABY
|
NICK
|
8809
|
|
15
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON L (BRONCOS/CHARGERS)
|
ESPN
|
8767
|
|
16
|
SPONGEBOB ATLANTIS PANTIS
|
NICK
|
8757
|
|
17
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (GIANTS/FALCONS)
|
ESPN
|
8480
|
|
18
|
MLB DIVISION SERIES (INDIANS-YANKEES 3)
|
TBSC
|
8460
|
|
19
|
NFL REGULAR SEASON
L (SAINTS/FALCONS)
|
ESPN
|
8449
|
|
20
|
SR/CALIFORNIA DEM DEBATE(S)-01/31/2008
|
CNN
|
8324
|
|
21
|
DEBATE (DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES)
|
MSNBC
|
7777
|
|
22
|
MLB DIVISION SERIES (YANKEES-INDIANS 2)
|
TBSC
|
7578
|
|
23
|
SR/TEXAS DEM DEBATE(S)-02/21/2008
|
CNN
|
7576
|
|
24
|
COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAME
L
(CLEMSON/AUBURN)
|
ESPN
|
7516
|
|
25
|
S KIDS CHOICE 08
|
NICK
|
7449
|
|
Source: Horizon Media based on data from Nielsen Media Research.
|
***
Meanwhile, in other cable ratings for the week ended July 6:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TNT, TBS, ABC Family, FX.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, TNT, TBS, Nick at Nite, ABC Family.
Top movie (18-49s): ABC Family’s “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (Sunday, 5 p.m.) 1.8 million.
Top sporting event (total viewers): TNT’s “Sprint Cup Racing/Daytona” (Saturday, 8:05 p.m.) 6.39 million.
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 and 10 p.m.); Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” (Tuesday, 9 p.m.).
Show on the rise: ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” Tuesday 8 p.m. The series premiere averaged 2.8 million total viewers, making it the most-watched original series premiere in network history. It was also the highest-rated original series telecast in network history in households, adults 18-34, 18-49s and 12-34s.
Show on the decline: MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew,” Thursday 10 p.m. The dance competition slipped 16 percent week-to-week among viewers 18-34, from 1.06 million to 888,000.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending July 6 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
2043
|
NICK
|
1556
|
|
2
|
TNT
|
1986
|
NAN
*
|
1307
|
|
3
|
NAN
|
1149
|
USA
|
1125
|
|
4
|
LIF
|
1138
|
TNT
|
1090
|
|
5
|
TBSC
|
1133
|
TOON
|
986
|
|
6
|
FAM
|
1064
|
ADSM*
|
909
|
|
7
|
HALL
|
1025
|
LIF
|
779
|
|
8
|
TOON
|
1003
|
TBSC
|
699
|
|
9
|
FOXN
|
963
|
FAM
|
689
|
|
10
|
ESPN
|
940
|
FOXN
|
640
|
|
11
|
HGTV
|
932
|
DISC
|
602
|
|
12
|
SPK
|
894
|
HALL
|
568
|
|
13
|
FX
|
860
|
AEN
|
556
|
|
14
|
DISC
|
851
|
FX
|
554
|
|
15
|
AEN
|
828
|
HGTV
|
548
|
|
16
|
SCIF
|
812
|
SPK
|
548
|
|
17
|
|
