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WWF's still king cable.
Real clout: 16 of 20 top shows for first quarter
By Elizabeth White
If anyone feels sorry for Vince McMahon because of the XFL’s failure this winter, he or she should look no farther than the WWF’s performance during the first quarter of this year to remember how the XFL got on the air in the first place.
WWF programs are still unquestionably the most popular brand of entertainment on cable.
Of the top 20 basic cable ad-supported household programs during the first quarter of 2001, 16 belonged to the WWF. Among adults 18-49, the WWF had nine of the top 10 programs.
Those kinds of numbers make the WWF seem almost unpopular with adults 25-54, since only three of the top 10 programs in the first quarter among that demographic were wrestling shows.
The reason that the WWF so dominates the quarterly ratings is its loyal fan base. More than four million households and four million adults 18-49 tune in whenever and wherever the show appears, putting the programs close to the top of the ratings charts week after week.
During the first quarter of 2000, the beneficiary of this fan base was USA. But when the WWF moved to TNN this fall, so did the audience.
USA reached 19 percent fewer households during primetime in the first quarter of 2001 than it did in first quarter 2000, and 25 percent fewer adults 18-49. TNN, on the other hand, reached 62 percent more households this past quarter than it did a year ago, and 148 percent more adults 18-49.
But USA shouldn’t be counted out yet. During primetime of first quarter 2001, the network still averaged over 644,000 more households and 367,000 more adults 18-49 than TNN.
Part of that larger audience is coverage area, but the other part is USA’s new programming strategy, shifting away from entertainment commodities like the WWF in favor of more network-identifying original programs.
And USA had some success with this strategy during the past quarter with its TV movie "Attila." Parts one and two of the feature were the second and sixth highest rated household shows for the quarter, averaging 4.7 million households over four hours.
TNT had an even more successful original TV movie with "The Crossfire Trail." The Tom Selleck western was the highest rated program for the quarter in households, adults 18-49, and adults 25-54. The program reached more than 7.7 million households and 4.7 million adults 18-49 during its original airing in January.
But Lifetime is the network that has most successfully embraced the strategy of using network-identifying original programs. Lifetime was the top-rated primetime network in households during the first quarter of 2001, the month of March, and last week.
Lifetime reached 21 percent more households during primetime in the first quarter of 2001 than it did in the first quarter of 2000, 16 percent more adults 18-49 and 14 percent more adults 25-54.
This growth is due to the success of Lifetime’s original movies and series like "Any Day Now," "Strong Medicine," and "The Division."
But in stark contrast to the WWF, Lifetime had only 10 of the top 50 household programs during the first quarter, all original movies. And the highest rated program was in 34th place, with only 3.3 million households.
Yet Lifetime averaged nearly 1.6 million households during primetime in the first quarter, more than double what the WWF’s TNN averaged and almost 50,000 more than second-place USA.
| Top
10 Primetime Household Networks First Quarter 2001 |
||||||||||
| PRIMETIME | TOTAL DAY | |||||||||
|
PT # |
Net |
Q1 '01 Rtg |
Q1 '01 (000) |
% Chg. '01 vs.'00 Rtg |
% Chg. '01 vs.'00 (000) |
TD |
Q1 ’01 TD Rtg |
Q1 ’01 (000) |
% Chg. '01 vs.'00 Rtg |
% Chg. '01 vs.'00 (000) |
|
1 |
LIF |
2.0 |
1584 |
18 |
21 |
2 |
1.2 |
990 |
9 |
16 |
|
2 |
USA |
1.9 |
1538 |
-21 |
-19 |
5 |
0.9 |
688 |
-10 |
-15 |
|
2 |
TBS |
1.9 |
1535 |
6 |
11 |
2 |
1.2 |
946 |
0 |
3 |
|
4 |
TOON |
1.7 |
1207 |
6 |
26 |
4 |
1.1 |
777 |
10 |
30 |
|
5 |
TNT |
1.6 |
1295 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
0.9 |
765 |
0 |
13 |
|
5 |
NICK |
1.6 |
1248 |
-11 |
-7 |
1 |
1.4 |
1147 |
-7 |
-1 |
|
7 |
AEN |
1.4 |
1131 |
-7 |
-2 |
5 |
0.9 |
733 |
-10 |
-3 |
|
8 |
DISC |
1.3 |
1058 |
0 |
7 |
8 |
0.7 |
553 |
0 |
4 |
|
9 |
TNN |
1.1 |
894 |
57 |
62 |
11 |
0.5 |
407 |
25 |
37 |
|
10 |
TLC |
1.0 |
783 |
0 |
13 |
11 |
0.5 |
411 |
0 |
18 |
| Source:
Turner Entertainment Research from Nielsen Media Research Data
|
||||||||||
|
Top
10 Primetime Networks among Adults 18-49 |
||||||
| PRIMETIME | TOTAL DAY | |||||
|
PT # |
Network |
Q1 2001 (000) |
% Chg ’01 vs.’00 |
TD # |
Q1 2001 (000) |
% Chg ’01 vs. ‘00 |
|
1 |
TBS |
1185 |
17 |
1 |
672 |
11 |
|
2 |
TNT |
985 |
12 |
3 |
520 |
30 |
|
3 |
USA |
942 |
-25 |
4 |
443 |
-15 |
|
4 |
LIF |
845 |
16 |
2 |
553 |
11 |
|
5 |
DISC |
732 |
4 |
6 |
371 |
6 |
|
6 |
TLC |
648 |
15 |
7 |
325 |
21 |
|
7 |
TNN |
575 |
148 |
13 |
263 |
58 |
|
8 |
NICK |
489 |
0 |
5 |
399 |
-1 |
|
9 |
SCIF |
476 |
-2 |
16 |
234 |
5 |
|
10 |
MTV |
472 |
34 |
10 |
273 |
26 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research from Nielsen Media Research Data |
||||||
|
Top
10 Primetime Networks Among Adults 25-54 |
||||||
| PRIMETIME | TOTAL DAY | |||||
|
PT # |
Network |
Q1 2001 (000) |
% Chg ’01 vs.’00 |
TD # |
Q1 2001 (000) |
% Chg ’01 vs. ‘00 |
|
1 |
TBS |
1179 |
18 |
1 |
650 |
9 |
|
2 |
USA |
1053 |
-14 |
4 |
456 |
-11 |
|
3 |
TNT |
1014 |
13 |
3 |
548 |
27 |
|
4 |
LIF |
926 |
14 |
2 |
596 |
13 |
|
5 |
DISC |
792 |
3 |
5 |
393 |
5 |
|
6 |
TLC |
673 |
11 |
8 |
318 |
15 |
|
7 |
AEN |
589 |
-10 |
6 |
389 |
-11 |
|
8 |
SCIF |
568 |
5 |
12 |
267 |
14 |
|
9 |
TNN |
546 |
101 |
11 |
269 |
45 |
|
10 |
ESPN |
480 |
-17 |
10 |
270 |
-15 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research from Nielsen Media Research Data |
||||||
|
Top
10 Programs Among Adults 18-49 |
|||||
# |
Date |
Program |
Net |
Day |
(000) |
|
1 |
1/21/01 |
m/"Crossfire Trail" |
TNT |
Sun |
4710 |
|
2 |
1/22/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
4626 |
|
3 |
1/29/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
4421 |
|
4 |
1/22/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
4187 |
|
5 |
2/5/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
4029 |
|
6 |
1/15/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3966 |
|
7 |
2/26/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3897 |
|
8 |
3/26/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3890 |
|
9 |
2/12/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3871 |
|
10 |
3/12/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3863 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research from Nielsen Media Research Data |
|||||
|
Top
10 Programs Among Adults 25-54 |
|||||
# |
Date |
Program |
Net |
Day |
(000) |
|
1 |
1/21/01 |
m/"Crossfire Trail" |
TNT |
Sun |
5942 |
|
2 |
1/31/01 |
m/"Attila (Part 2)" |
USA |
Wed |
3997 |
|
3 |
2/11/01 |
m/"Pretty Woman" |
TBS |
Sun |
3803 |
|
4 |
1/30/01 |
m/"Attila (Part 1)" |
USA |
Tue |
3777 |
|
5 |
1/22/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3710 |
|
6 |
2/18/01 |
m/"Hard To Kill" |
TBS |
Sun |
3625 |
|
7 |
1/22/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3402 |
|
8 |
2/4/01 |
m/"A Few Good Men" |
TBS |
Sun |
3366 |
|
9 |
1/29/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
3287 |
|
10 |
1/22/01 |
m/"The Pretender 2001" |
TNT |
Mon |
3253 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research from Nielsen Media Research Data |
|||||
|
Top 20
Basic Ad-Supported Cable Programs |
|||||||
# |
Date |
Program |
Net |
Day |
Rtg | Shr |
(000) |
|
1 |
1/21/01 |
m/"Crossfire Trail" |
TNT |
Sun |
9.6 |
13.2 |
7736 |
|
2 |
1/30/01 |
m/"Attila (Part 1)" |
USA |
Tue |
6.1 |
9.3 |
4898 |
|
3 |
1/29/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.8 |
9.4 |
4617 |
|
3 |
1/22/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.8 |
9.2 |
4580 |
|
5 |
2/11/01 |
m/"Pretty Woman" |
TBS |
Sun |
5.7 |
8.3 |
4696 |
|
6 |
1/31/01 |
m/"Attila (Part 2)" |
USA |
Wed |
5.6 |
8.3 |
4488 |
|
7 |
1/15/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.5 |
8.6 |
4320 |
|
8 |
3/12/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.4 |
8.9 |
4332 |
|
8 |
2/5/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.4 |
8.8 |
4330 |
|
8 |
1/22/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.4 |
7.5 |
4276 |
|
11 |
2/26/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.3 |
8.6 |
4253 |
|
11 |
3/26/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.3 |
8.7 |
4217 |
|
11 |
1/8/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.3 |
8.5 |
4169 |
|
14 |
2/19/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.2 |
8.5 |
4165 |
|
15 |
2/12/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.1 |
8.3 |
4071 |
|
16 |
3/5/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.0 |
8.2 |
4004 |
|
16 |
1/29/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.0 |
7.0 |
3978 |
|
16 |
1/15/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
5.0 |
6.8 |
3949 |
|
19 |
3/19/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
4.9 |
8.3 |
3964 |
|
19 |
2/26/01 |
WWF Entertainment |
TNN |
Mon |
4.9 |
7.0 |
3932 |
|
Source: Turner Entertainment Research from Nielsen Media Research Data |
|||||||
April 5, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.
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