The list of possible heirs to Oprah Winfrey's throne keeps getting shorter.
Bonnie Hunt's talk show has been canceled. Tyra Banks is walking away from hers. And now Martha Stewart is aping Winfrey in moving from syndication to cable.
Just months after Winfrey announced she was ending her syndicated show to concentrate on her self-titled cable network, Martha Stewart said yesterday that she will jump from syndie to cable, with "The Martha Stewart Show" switching to the Hallmark Channel come September.
Unlike Winfrey's move, Stewart's wasn't expected. Though the 5-year-old "Stewart" has never drawn big ratings, it has managed to survive based partly on synergy.
It's distributed by NBC Universal Television Distribution and airs in 95 percent of the country, mostly NBC stations. It launched at the same time Stewart's "The Apprentice" spinoff was airing on NBC primetime, allowing the network to promote both shows at once.
The local stations knew "Stewart" would never be a huge draw, but it seemed to beat the alternative of attempting to launch a new show that might bomb.
Still, the show was clearly not going to show any ratings improvement. "Stewart" ranked just 103rd among all syndicated shows for the week ended Jan. 10, averaging a 0.7 household rating, according to Nielsen, and it averaged a mere 0.3 in women 25-54.
Stewart's move to Hallmark actually makes sense. Her program, which will air at 10 a.m. weekdays and repeat in the afternoon, could help draw a more upscale crowd to the network.
Her biggest fans are devotees of her Martha Stewart Living magazine, females with a median age of 48 and median household income of $74,436.
And while a 0.7 rating on broadcast isn't very good, it's okay for cable in the daytime. Even assuming "Stewart" loses a good deal of her audience, as not all viewers have cable subscriptions, Hallmark will gain a huge amount of brand exposure and generate stability during daytime, where it mostly airs repeats.
According to the plan laid out yesterday, Stewart's company will also provide programming for the 90-minute block following her show, programming that shares the same themes of cooking, gardening and do-it-yourselfing.
Stewart is only the most recent high-profile name to leave a traditional daytime gig. Winfrey, of course, famously announced her retirement last year, and her show will run through 2011.
"The Bonnie Hunt Show" was canceled earlier this season, and over the holidays Banks said that she's leaving her self-titled CW program to focus on her production company.
***
In cable ratings for the week ended Jan. 24:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): USA, TBS, A&E, Lifetime and TNT.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): Fox News Channel, USA, Nick at Nite, TNT, A&E.
Top movie (18-49s): Lifetime’s “The Pregnancy Pact” (Saturday, 9 p.m.) 3.22 million.
Top sporting event (total viewers): TNT’s “NBA Basketball: Lakers/Cavaliers” (Thursday, 8 p.m.) 3.95 million.
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: USA’s “WWE Entertainment” (Monday, 9 and 10 p.m.); Lifetime’s “The Pregnancy Pact” (Saturday, 9 p.m.).
Show on the rise: Nickelodeon’s “iCarly,” Monday 8 p.m. The show averaged 11.2 million total viewers, easily topping its previous best, 8.9 million.
Show on the decline: ABC Family’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” Monday 8 p.m. “Life” averaged 1.33 million viewers 18-49, off 15 percent from 1.56 million the previous week.
|
AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending January 24 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
FOXN
|
2386
|
NICK
|
1761
|
|
2
|
USA
|
2364
|
NAN
*
|
1442
|
|
3
|
NAN
|
1712
|
FOXN
|
1297
|
|
4
|
TNT
|
1487
|
USA
|
1229
|
|
5
|
AEN
|
1368
|
TNT
|
1093
|
|
6
|
LIF
|
1336
|
ADSM*
|
961
|
|
7
|
TBSC
|
1157
|
TOON
|
873
|
|
8
|
HIST
|
1143
|
AEN
|
780
|
|
9
|
HGTV
|
1092
|
LIF
|
720
|
|
10
|
TOON
|
1013
|
TBSC
|
716
|
|
11
|
ESPN
|
1010
|
ESPN
|
694
|
|
12
|
FX
|
994
|
TRU
|
680
|
|
13
|
FAM
|
986
|
FX
|
631
|
|
14
|
TRU
|
934
|
HIST
|
628
|
|
15
|
DISC
|
925
|
HGTV
|
622
|
|
16
|
FOOD
|
902
|
FOOD
|
611
|
|
17
|
MTV
|
890
|
DISC
|
586
|
|
18
|
TLC
|
878
|
CNN
|
564
|
|
19
|
SYFY
|
872
|
SPK
|
550
|
|
20
|
HALL
|
819
|
MTV
|
541
|
|
21
|
CNN
|
815
|
FAM
|
487
|
|
22
|
AMC
|
768
|
HALL
|
473
|
|
23
|
SPK
|
729
|
AMC
|
452
|
|
24
|
CMDY
|
630
|
TLC
|
449
|
|
25
|
MSNB
|
593
|
TVLD
|
449
|
|
* 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 January 24 |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
iCarly
|
NAN
|
6892
|
|
2
|
Hannity
|
FOXN
|
4870
|
|
3
|
On The Record with Greta
|
FOXN
|
4588
|
|
4
|
Big Time Rush
|
NAN
|
4418
|
|
5
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
4255
|
|
6
|
The Pregnancy Pact
|
LIF
|
4184
|
|
7
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
3943
|
|
8
|
Burn Notice
|
USA
|
3812
|
|
9
|
iCarly
|
NICK
|
3608
|
|
10
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
3607
|
|
11
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
3600
|
|
12
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
3564
|
|
13
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
3516
|
|
14
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3490
|
|
15
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
3483
|
|
16
|
Jersey
Shore
|
MTV
|
3410
|
|
17
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3404
|
|
18
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
3399
|
|
19
|
iCarly Movie: iQuit iCarly
|
NICK
|
3372
|
|
20
|
White Collar
|
USA
|
3370
|
|
21
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
3354
|
|
22
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3280
|
|
23
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3248
|
|
24
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
3218
|
|
25
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
3182
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending January 24 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
MTV
|
608
|
ADSM*
|
504
|
|
2
|
USA
|
600
|
NICK
|
379
|
|
3
|
TBSC
|
527
|
NAN
*
|
357
|
|
4
|
FX
|
514
|
MTV
|
321
|
|
5
|
LIF
|
479
|
TBSC
|
308
|
|
6
|
TNT
|
416
|
USA
|
295
|
|
7
|
AEN
|
404
|
FX
|
282
|
|
8
|
FAM
|
347
|
TNT
|
270
|
|
9
|
HIST
|
341
|
ESPN
|
254
|
|
10
|
DISC
|
328
|
LIF
|
248
|
|
* 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 January 24 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Jersey
Shore
|
MTV
|
2805
|
|
2
|
Jersey
Shore:
Reunion
|
MTV
|
2431
|
|
3
|
The Pregnancy Pact
|
LIF
|
1773
|
|
4
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1596
|
|
5
|
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
|
EN
|
1449
|
|
6
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1427
|
|
7
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
1416
|
|
8
|
Teen Mom
|
MTV
|
1407
|
|
9
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1356
|
|
10
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
1277
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending January 24 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
1324
|
ADSM*
|
688
|
|
2
|
TBSC
|
929
|
USA
|
663
|
|
3
|
AEN
|
914
|
TNT
|
625
|
|
4
|
LIF
|
908
|
NAN
*
|
612
|
|
5
|
TNT
|
895
|
NICK
|
609
|
|
6
|
FX
|
837
|
TBSC
|
551
|
|
7
|
HIST
|
767
|
FX
|
497
|
|
8
|
MTV
|
738
|
AEN
|
494
|
|
9
|
DISC
|
679
|
LIF
|
473
|
|
10
|
TRU
|
636
|
ESPN
|
454
|
|
* 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 January 24 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Jersey
Shore
|
MTV
|
3360
|
|
2
|
The Pregnancy Pact
|
LIF
|
3221
|
|
3
|
Jersey
Shore:
Reunion
|
MTV
|
2906
|
|
4
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2677
|
|
5
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2514
|
|
6
|
Burn Notice
|
USA
|
2513
|
|
7
|
iCarly
|
NAN
|
2397
|
|
8
|
Pawn Stars
|
HIST
|
2359
|
|
9
|
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
|
EN
|
2159
|
|
10
|
White Collar
|
USA
|
2123
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending January 24 |
|
|
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Rank
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
1433
|
USA
|
696
|
|
2
|
AEN
|
976
|
TNT
|
655
|
|
3
|
TNT
|
919
|
AEN
|
518
|
|
4
|
FOXN
|
868
|
NAN
*
|
516
|
|
5
|
LIF
|
833
|
NICK
|
484
|
|
6
|
TBSC
|
812
|
TBSC
|
480
|
|
7
|
HIST
|
794
|
FOXN
|
464
|
|
8
|
FX
|
660
|
TRU
|
453
|
|
9
|
DISC
|
654
|
ADSM*
|
441
|
|
10
|
TRU
|
642
|
LIF
|
435
|
|
* 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 January 24 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
The Pregnancy Pact
|
LIF
|
2643
|
|
2
|
Burn Notice
|
USA
|
2603
|
|
3
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2589
|
|
4
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2400
|
|
5
|
Pawn Stars
|
HIST
|
2249
|
|
6
|
White Collar
|
USA
|
2213
|
|
7
|
Hannity
|
FOXN
|
2129
|
|
8
|
Pawn Stars
|
HIST
|
2095
|
|
9
|
On The Record with Greta
|
FOXN
|
2077
|
|
10
|
iCarly
|
NAN
|
2024
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen Media Research data |
