Over the past few years, it seemed that the boom in viewership for ad-supported cable networks would never end. Year after year their ratings just kept growing.
But with many of the top networks now rivaling the smaller broadcast networks in terms of viewership, it looks like the boom is slowing.
Half of the top 20 networks in primetime among total viewers and adults 18-49 saw their viewership decline during fourth quarter, according to Nielsen data crunched by Turner Networks (see charts).
Some of the declines are easily explainable.
USA, the top network across virtually every demo for a record-breaking 15th straight quarter, radically revamped its schedule, abandoning its longtime strategy of running new shows mainly on Friday and Sunday nights.
USA expanded originals onto Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well, moving Friday shows "White Collar" and "Psych" into new timeslots, where both saw their numbers slip compared to their previous season.
USA still had a dominating quarter, finishing at least 25 percent ahead of the No. 2 network in viewers and 18-49s, but it was down 4 percent and 12 percent, respectively, from last year.
Cable as a whole was undoubtedly impacted by February's Winter Olympics, which pulled eyeballs over to broadcast instead of cable. The Games averaged more than 20 million total viewers per night, more than double the number who usually tune into NBC on an average night.
Yet other networks suffered from comparisons to strong first quarters in 2009. Syfy, for example, had the final episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" airing during Q1 this year. Prequel "Caprica" hasn't performed as well.
Though many top networks declined, others had strong first quarters. Fox News Channel was No. 2 in the quarter, rising 3 percent over last year among total viewers in primetime, while A&E had its best-ever quarter across a number of demographics.
ESPN, which ranked fourth in total viewers, had the biggest increase for any top-20 network in total viewers, up 20 percent, while History had the biggest rise for any top-20 network among 18-49s, up 17 percent.
***
In cable ratings for the week ended March 28:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TBS, Discovery Channel, TNT, A&E.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, Fox News Channel, Nick at Nite, TBS, Discovery Channel.
Top five cable news networks in primetime (25-54): Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, HLN, CNBC.
Top five cable news programs (total viewers): 1. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Monday, 8 p.m.) 3.95 million; 2. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Thursday, 8 p.m.) 3.63 million; 3. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Wednesday, 8 p.m.) 3.62 million; 4. Fox News Channel’s “Glenn Beck” (Monday, 5 p.m.) 3.45 million; 5. Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” (Tuesday,8 p.m.) 3.19 million.
Top movie (18-49s): TBS’s “Shooter” (Sunday, 8 p.m.) 1.41 million.
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: Discovery Channel’s “Life” (Sunday, 8 and 9 p.m.); Comedy Central’s “South Park” (Wednesday, 10 p.m.).
Show on the rise: TNT’s “Southland” Tuesday 10 p.m. The drama, whose future is very much up in the air after being dropped by NBC and picked up by TNT, saw a much-needed boost. It averaged 2.28 million total viewers, up 23 percent from 1.86 million the previous week.
TOP
25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Ranked
on Total Viewers
First Quarter 2010
Primetime
Rank
Net
Q1-10
Q1-09
% Change
1
USA
3141
3266
-4%
2
FOXN
2326
2262
3%
3
TNT
2123
2153
-1%
4
ESPN
1863
1556
20%
5
NAN
1831
1706
7%
6
TBSC
1726
1864
-7%
7
AEN
1649
1547
7%
8
HIST
1498
1317
14%
9
FAM
1492
1420
5%
10
TOON
1319
1477
-11%
11
FX
1310
1358
-4%
12
HGTV
1285
1135
13%
13
TRU
1241
1130
10%
14
DISC
1236
1255
-2%
15
LIF
1155
1245
-7%
16
FOOD
1152
1027
12%
17
SYFY
1142
1231
-7%
18
TLC
1096
1004
9%
19
AMC
1016
1130
-10%
20
SPK
982
1185
-17%
Source:
Turner Research from
Nielsen data
TOP
25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Ranked
on Adults 18-49
First Quarter 2010
Primetime
Rank
Net
Q1-10
Q1-09
% Change
1
USA
1292
1465
-12%
2
TBSC
1017
1116
-9%
3
TNT
966
1017
-5%
4
ESPN
830
729
14%
5
AEN
795
748
6%
6
FX
730
771
-5%
7
HIST
713
611
17%
8
DISC
650
655
-1%
9
FAM
649
661
-2%
10
TRU
602
525
15%
11
MTV
575
557
3%
12
CMDY
569
631
-10%
13
FOOD
566
515
10%
14
TLC
550
520
6%
15
LIF
530
511
4%
16
SYFY
521
583
-11%
17
SPK
518
614
-16%
18
NAN
473
608
-22%
19
HGTV
472
436
8%
20
EN
448
364
23%
Source:
Turner Research from
Nielsen data
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending March 28
Rank
Primetime
Total Day
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
USA
2322
NICK
1822
2
FOXN
1776
NAN*
1400
3
NAN
1509
USA
1142
4
TNT
1298
FOXN
1038
5
TBSC
1273
ADSM*
1031
6
DISC
1227
TNT
1027
7
AEN
1116
TOON
798
8
HGTV
1049
TBSC
711
9
HIST
1049
AEN
645
10
TOON
988
DISC
637
11
FX
923
HIST
620
12
FAM
856
HGTV
607
13
TRU
856
TRU
604
14
ESPN
826
ESPN
585
15
SYFY
820
FOOD
573
16
LIF
805
LIF
569
17
FOOD
793
FX
518
18
LMN
791
TVLD
479
19
MSNB
742
SPK
458
20
TLC
714
FAM
437
21
CMDY
698
LMN
435
22
HALL
681
CMDY
431
23
TVLD
655
HALL
428
24
SPK
628
SYFY
424
25
AMC
627
CNN
398
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS Ranked on Households
Week Ending March 28
Rank
Program
Net
(000)
1
Kids' Choice Awards 2010
NICK
4513
2
Spongebob
NICK
3713
3
Victorious
NICK
3421
4
WWE Raw
USA
3412
5
Life
DISC
3364
6
Spongebob
NICK
3356
7
Life
DISC
3336
8
Spongebob
NICK
3288
9
NCIS
USA
3170
10
NCIS
USA
3149
10
NCIS
USA
3149
12
Spongebob
NICK
3132
13
iCarly
NICK
3099
14
NCIS
USA
3083
15
The Penguins Of
Madagascar
NICK
3078
16
The O'Reilly Factor
FOXN
3071
17
Spongebob
NICK
3028
18
WWE Raw
USA
3012
19
iCarly
NICK
2949
20
Spongebob
NICK
2935
21
iCarly
NICK
2931
22
Amish Grace
LMN
2916
23
Spongebob
NICK
2906
24
NCIS
USA
2901
25
NCIS
USA
2863
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-34
Week Ending March 28
Rank
PRIME TIME
TOTAL DAY
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
TBSC
544
ADSM*
502
2
USA
520
NICK
408
3
CMDY
406
NAN*
374
4
DISC
386
TBSC
293
5
TNT
355
USA
288
6
FX
350
TNT
268
7
MTV
326
CMDY
241
8
AEN
296
FX
232
9
NAN
291
ESPN
217
10
HIST
253
MTV
214
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-34 Week Ending March 28
Rank
PROGRAM
NET
(000)
1
SouthPark
CMDY
1733
2
Family Guy
ADSM
1501
3
Life
DISC
1355
4
Life
DISC
1349
5
Family Guy
ADSM
1323
6
Family Guy
ADSM
1310
7
Bad Girls Club
OXYG
1297
8
Family Guy
ADSM
1248
9
Family Guy
TBSC
1223
10
Family Guy
ADSM
1200
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 18-49 Week Ending March 28
Rank
PRIME TIME
TOTAL DAY
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
USA
1147
ADSM*
698
2
TBSC
955
NICK
664
3
DISC
840
NAN*
658
4
TNT
750
TNT
609
5
AEN
722
USA
598
6
FX
695
TBSC
539
7
CMDY
593
DISC
440
8
HIST
568
FX
409
9
TRU
526
AEN
393
10
NAN
506
ESPN
373
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 18-49
Week Ending March 28
Rank
PROGRAM
NET
(000)
1
WWE Raw
USA
2546
2
Life
DISC
2508
3
Life
DISC
2481
4
SouthPark
CMDY
2417
5
WWE Raw
USA
2044
6
Family Guy
ADSM
1996
7
Kids' Choice Awards 2010
NICK
1865
8
Family Guy
ADSM
1798
9
Justified
FX
1784
10
Family Guy
ADSM
1773
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS Adults 25-54
Week Ending March 28
PRIME TIME
TOTAL DAY
Rank
Net
(000)
Net
(000)
1
USA
1274
TNT
616
2
DISC
846
USA
616
3
TBSC
841
NICK
517
4
AEN
764
NAN*
514
5
TNT
742
TBSC
477
6
FX
652
ADSM*
453
7
HIST
623
DISC
425
8
FOXN
614
AEN
419
9
SYFY
580
TRU
394
10
TRU
567
HIST
370
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS Adults 25-54 Week Ending March 28
