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For Bravo, no less
sass in its strut


Ratings are well up, even without 'Project Runway'

Aug 26, 2009

Bravo may have lost its signature show, “Project Runway,” which set record ratings in its recent debut on Lifetime, but the network is holding up quite well even so, buoyed by the ongoing success of similarly themed reality shows and their knockoffs.

Even without "Runway," its ratings are up smartly.

In the week that “Project Runway” made its season six premiere on Lifetime, Bravo actually ranked higher in primetime than it did the week that “Project Runway” had its season five premiere on Bravo itself last July.

That week, Bravo averaged 761,000 total viewers in primetime, ranking it No. 25 among ad-supported cable channels.

Last week, the week ended Aug. 23, it averaged 952,000 total viewers, placing it at No. 21, according to Nielsen. That's up almost 24 percent.

The increase was more striking in the important adults 18-49 demographic. That figure rose from 447,000 viewers, ranking it 18th on ad-supported cable, to 616,000, boosting it to 11th place, an increase of nearly 38 percent.

And among 18-34s, it went from 236,000, putting it at No. 14, to 314,000, pushing it up to No. 10, for an increase of 33 percent

Surprisingly, Bravo achieved those increases without any of its programs cracking the top 50 among total cable viewers.

Among its standouts last week were “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” which came in at No. 94 in total viewers among basic-cable viewers but No. 9 in ad-supported cable among 18-49s; the season premiere of “Top Chef” (No. 155 and No. 12, respectively); and the season finale of “Top Chef Masters” (No. 215 and No. 14).

Those shows suggest the secret of Bravo’s success: creating hip reality shows that skew toward younger viewers and can be spun off or knocked off into a franchise.

“Top Chef” is the channel’s most successful variant on the “Project Runway” formula (skilled practitioners of glamorous crafts compete for judges’ approval). Others have included “Top Design” (interior decoration) and “Shear Genius” (hair styling).

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” is the third version of a reality franchise that has also examined the lives of prosperous women living in New Jersey, New York and Orange County, Calif.

Another Bravo genre, reality shows examining the lives of high-profile workaholics with intriguing careers, was exemplified last week by the real-estate-themed “Flipping Out,” which drew a respectable 1.03 million viewers in its season premiere on Tuesday. (Ratings for a similar Bravo series, “The Rachel Zoe Project,” which had its season premiere on Monday of this week, were unavailable at press time.)

Bravo, which had a rocky start in 1980 when it launched as a movie and performance-arts channel, hasn’t always been as skilled at exploiting its hits. In 2003, the reality show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” transformed the channel’s image in the eyes of viewers and the media, but its spinoff, “Queer Eye for the Straight Girl,” was a flop.

In the ratings, you’re either in or you’re out. Despite taking a hit, Bravo is still in.

See "'Runway' struts to a record for Lifetime"

***

In cable ratings for the week ended Aug. 23:

Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, ESPN, TNT, TBS, Lifetime.

Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, ESPN, TNT, Fox News Channel, Nick at Nite.

Top movie (18-49s): USA’s “The Pacifier” (Thursday, 8 p.m.) 1.26 million.

Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN’s “NASCAR Sprint Cup” (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.) 5.32 million.

Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: ESPN’s “Monday Night Football: Panthers/Giants” (Monday, 8 p.m.); USA’s “WWE Raw” (Monday, 9 and 10 p.m.); Lifetime’s “Project Runway” (Thursday, 10 p.m.).

Show on the rise: HBO’s “True Blood,” Sunday 9 p.m. The vampire drama sucked in a series-high 5.3 million total viewers, up 18 percent from 4.5 million the previous week.

Show on the decline: E!’s “Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami,” Sunday 10 p.m. The reality series slipped 27 percent week-to-week among viewers 18-49, from 2.02 million viewers to 1.48 million.


TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
 Week Ending August 23

Rank

Primetime

Total Day

Net

(000)

Net

(000)

1

USA

2545

NICK

1696

2

ESPN

1954

USA

1261

3

TNT

1922

NAN *

1256

4

FOXN

1736

TNT

1042

5

NAN

1461

FOXN

996

6

LIF

1279

ADSM*

955

7

TBSC

1240

TOON

875

8

HGTV

1150

ESPN

823

9

AEN

1105

TBSC

761

10

FAM

959

LIF

662

11

SYFY

955

AEN

603

12

FX  

892

FOOD

584

13

TOON

885

HGTV

582

14

FOOD

884

TRU

565

15

HIST

873

FX  

555

16

TLC

860

DISC

536

17

AMC

844

HIST

536

18

TRU

839

FAM

509

19

DISC

836

HALL

490

20

HALL

784

SPK

479

21

BRAV

752

AMC

473

22

CMDY

651

TLC

455

23

ESP2

650

TVLD

428

24

MSNB

641

SYFY

423

25

SPK

639

CMDY

403

* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
 Week Ending August 23

Rank

Program

Net

(000)

1

The Closer

TNT

5318

2

WWE Raw

USA

3944

3

Royal Pains

USA

3919

4

NASCAR Sprint Cup       

ESPN

3729

5

Panthers/Giants

ESPN

3597

6

WWE Raw

USA

3534

7

Monk

USA

3459

8

Yankees/Red Sox

ESPN

3429

9

NCIS

USA

3257

10

Project Runway

LIF

3243

11

Army Wives

LIF

3231

12

Spongebob

NICK

3142

13

NCIS

USA

3078

14

NCIS

USA

2966

15

The O'Reilly Factor

FOXN

2856

16

Hawthorne

TNT

2835

17

NCIS

USA

2808

18

Penguins of Madagascar

NICK

2804

19

NCIS

USA

2790

20

NCIS

USA

2778

21

The O'Reilly Factor

FOXN

2737

22

Psych

USA

2732

23

NCIS

USA

2724

24

Spongebob

NICK

2720

25

Spongebob

NICK

2699

Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
 Week Ending August 23

Rank

PRIME TIME

TOTAL DAY

Net

(000)

Net

(000)

1

ESPN

535

ADSM*

453

2

USA

524

NICK

362

3

TBSC

516

NAN *

348

4

LIF

372

TBSC

327

5

FAM

345

ESPN

293

6

MTV

338

USA

254

7

FX  

333

TNT

225

8

TNT

332

FX  

217

9

NAN

328

LIF

208

10

BRAV

314

CMDY

198

* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending August 23

Rank

PROGRAM

NET

(000)

1

Project Runway

LIF

1418

2

Family Guy

ADSM

1297

3

WWE Raw

USA

1283

4

Family Guy

ADSM

1256

5

Panthers/Giants

ESPN

1186

6

Family Guy

ADSM

1144

7

Family Guy

ADSM

1136

8

Secret Life of the American Teenager

FAM

1126

9

Family Guy

ADSM

1099

10

WWE Raw

USA

1080

Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
 Week Ending August 23

  Rank

PRIME TIME

TOTAL DAY

Net

(000)

Net

(000)

1

USA

1284

USA

622

2

ESPN

1265

NAN *

618

3

TNT

957

ADSM*

614

4

TBSC

913

TBSC

572

5

LIF

725

TNT

571

6

AEN

704

ESPN

550

7

NAN

644

NICK

550

8

FX  

638

LIF

401

9

SYFY

621

FX  

388

10

FAM

619

DISC

361

* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
 Week Ending August 23

Rank

PROGRAM

NET

(000)

1

WWE Raw

USA

2791

2

NASCAR Sprint Cup       

ESPN

2455

3

Panthers/Giants

ESPN

2434

4

Project Runway

LIF

2412

5

WWE Raw

USA

2375

6

Yankees/Red Sox

ESPN

2215

7

Royal Pains

USA

2180

8

The Closer

TNT

2089

9

Real Housewives of Atlanta

BRAV

1944

10

Family Guy

ADSM

1825

Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
 Week Ending August 23

 

PRIME TIME

TOTAL DAY

Rank

Net

(000)

Net

(000)

1

USA

1519

USA

716

2

ESPN

1314

TNT

630

3

TNT

1148

NAN *

516

4

TBSC

807

ESPN

504

5

LIF

742

TBSC

485

6

AEN

728

ADSM*

424

7

SYFY

717

NICK

424

8

FOOD

646

LIF

396

9

HGTV

619

FOOD

365

10

BRAV

612

AEN

364

* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
 Week Ending August 23

Rank

PROGRAM

NET

(000)

1

The Closer

TNT

2890

2

WWE Raw

USA

2855

3

NASCAR Sprint Cup       

ESPN

2831

4

Royal Pains

USA

2523

5

WWE Raw

USA

2517

6

Panthers/Giants

ESPN

2420

7

Project Runway

LIF

2237

8

Yankees/Red Sox

ESPN

2214

9

Monk

USA

2080

10

Army Wives

LIF

1909

Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data

 





Tom Conroy is a Connectiout writer.




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