By Kevin Downey    
   
    George W., Al, and a couple thousand picked-over chads proved to be a boon to television this season.
   Viewing levels increased by sizable margins but not just during news-heavy dayparts, as might be expected, but in all dayparts for the several weeks of recounting in November until Bush was declared the winner.
   Essentially the chads and the squabbling candidates  brought viewers to the tube throughout the day, and those viewers stuck around to watch the news and pretty much everything else that was on.
    Viewing among adults 25-54, for example, was up 11.1 percent during the early morning news daypart, 6.2 percent during the day (based on viewing among women), 9.3 percent during the early evening news, and 5.3 percent during late night.
    Those increases are compared to season-to-date figures for the same time last year and are from a new report by MediaVest.
    The MediaVest analysis of Nielsen ratings data found that viewing increased in other demographic groups as well.
    Among adults 18-49, viewing, or the percent of persons using television (PUT), increased by 9.7 percent in the early morning news daypart, 5.0 percent during daytime, and 4.9 percent in late night.
    The Big Three broadcast networks, which collectively dominate viewing outside of primetime, benefited to varying degrees by the increase in viewership.
    NBC, for instance, had double-digit percentage increases virtually across the board.
     In fact, viewers flocked to old standbys for the presidential election tally. That means NBC, which has long dominated early morning news, for example, increased at the expense of other networks, like CBS, which has been languishing in the early morning arena.
    NBC’s early morning news rating increased by 20 percent for the season, compared to a 10 percent decrease for CBS. ABC had a 5.9 percent increase.
    Those increases are based on adults 25-54, but changes were comparable among adults 18-49 as well.
    In early evening news, where NBC has been in the lead too, its adult 25-54 rating jumped by 9.4 percent. CBS was up 3.8 percent and ABC was flat.
    In late night, NBC’s lead widened with a 13.6 percent increase, while CBS was up 7.7 percent, and ABC was up 6.3 percent.
    Perhaps most surprising is that daytime viewing increased, since that daypart has been plagued by growing viewer disinterest in the network’s soaps-dominated lineups.
     NBC, which remains in last place in daytime among the broadcast networks, jumped by 12.5 percent among women 25-54 and 37.5 percent among women 18-49. That’s due largely to its "Passions" soap opera, which has managed to attract scores of young viewers with its supernatural themes, such as a talking dog, a witch, and people selling their souls.
   "Passions," which has been on for a bit over a year, also has a cast stocked with young folks.
     The network’s rating among women 18-34, as a result, has gone up by 50 percent in the past year and the network is now No. 1 in the daypart for that demographic group.

-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.

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