The real star of sweeps: Fox

Sugar Ray Leonard guest stars on 'Bernie Mac'

Game Seven of the World Series

The real star
of sweeps: Fox

NBC won, but best game goes to Rupe's minions

By Elizabeth White

    If there were any remaining doubts that the Big Three networks should include Fox and become the Big Four, this past November sweeps should quell them.
    After hovering around third and fourth place last November, Fox finished this sweeps period first among adults 18-34, second–by a mere 40,000 viewers–among adults 18-49, tied for second with CBS among adults 25-54, was third in total viewers and was third in household rating.
    Unquestionably, ABC’s dismal performance helped Fox in the rankings.
    ABC suffered double-digit declines from last year’s November sweeps, dropping 24 percent in total viewers, and the network finished this November fourth in all five audience measurements.
    Last year, ABC won the sweeps in total viewers and placed second among adults 18-49 and adults 25-54.
    Fox certainly got an unexpected boost from the weeklong delay in the baseball season, which pushed the last three World Series games into the November sweeps.
    With an average of 39 million viewers, game seven was Fox’s fourth-most-watched show ever, and Fox jumped out to an early lead during the first week of sweeps.
    But Fox’s successes during these sweeps can’t be entirely passed off to its luck with the World Series and ABC's collapse.
    Fox earned its victories.
    Yes, baseball helped, but baseball is still scheduled programming, and paid for as such. Fox may have been lucky that the series turned out to be such a stunner, but again, Fox paid handsomely for the privilege of being in a position to be blessed by such luck.
    Hosting major sports events is what the big networks do. NBC will have the Winter Olympics during this year’s February sweeps, just as CBS would schedule the Super Bowl during a sweeps period if it could.
    Secondly, and more important, Fox’s best performances this November came in the demographics where the network logged the smallest year-to-year audience gains.
   In other words, they reflect evidence of long-term growth in these demographics, as opposed to one-time bump-ups that might be tied to something like the Series.
    Among adults 18-34, the demographic that Fox won, the network actually suffered an average rating decline from last November and improved its total number of viewers 18-34 by a mere 1 percent.
    Among adults 18-49, the demographic Fox nearly won, the network posted a 6 percent increase in rating and 10 percent increase in viewers 18-49 from last November.
    Those gains appear small in comparison to Fox’s performance in the other audience categories, in which Fox improved its numbers by 12-25 percent over last year.
    But whether or not Fox can maintain these gains throughout the season remains to be seen, particularly with "Bernie Mac" emerging as the network’s only rookie hit.
    Fox had four of the top-20 regular programs among adults 18-49 during November sweeps, "The Simpsons," "Malcolm in the Middle," "Boston Public" and "That '70s Show." NBC had eight of the top-20, CBS had six of the top-20 and ABC had two of the top-20.
    With the addition of "King of the Hill," "Bernie Mac" and "Ally McBeal," Fox had seven of the top-20 sweeps programs among adults 18-34. Also with seven, NBC tied Fox for the most top-rated programs among adults 18-34. CBS had five programs in the top-20, and ABC had one.
    In November 2000 to November 2001 numbers, CBS and UPN join Fox as the networks posting audience growth in every category, while NBC, ABC and the WB all experienced audience declines in every category.
    In fact, the WB and UPN have reversed positions since last November.
    In the November 2000 sweeps, the WB topped UPN in every audience category except adults 25-54, in which the two networks tied for fifth place in the ratings. This November, UPN beat the WB in every audience category, winning by the widest margin in the adult 25-54 demographic, with over 300,000 viewers 25-54.

NOVEMBER SWEEPS Top 20 Regular Programs
Adults 18-49
Rank	Network	Program	Rating/Share%
1	NBC	E.R.	12.4 / 31
2	NBC	Friends	12.3 / 32
3	NBC	Will & Grace	9.3 / 22
4	CBS	C.S.I.	9.0 / 21
5	NBC	Just Shoot Me	8.5 / 19
6	CBS	Everybody Loves Raymond	8.2 / 19
7	CBS	Survivor: Africa	7.7 / 19
8	FOX	The Simpsons	7.2 / 17
8	ABC	Monday Night Football	7.2 / 19
8	NBC	Frasier	7.2 / 17
8	NBC	Law & Order	7.2 / 19
12	FOX	Malcolm In The Middle	6.8 / 16
12	NBC	The West Wing	6.8 / 17
14	CBS	Becker	6.1 / 14
15	CBS	Yes, Dear	5.7 / 14
16	CBS	King Of Queens	5.6 / 15
17	FOX	Boston Public	5.5 / 14
17	NBC	Scrubs	5.5 / 13
19	FOX	That ‘70s Show	5.4 / 15
19	ABC	NYPD Blue	5.4 / 13
Adults 18-34
Rank	Network	Program	Rating/Share%
1	NBC	Friends	13.6 / 37
2	NBC	E.R.	11.3 / 32
3	NBC	Will & Grace	9.8 / 26
4	NBC	Just Shoot Me	8.9 / 22
5	FOX	The Simpsons	8.6 / 23
6	FOX	Malcolm In The Middle	7.4 / 19
7	CBS	Survivor: Africa	7.1 / 19
7	CBS	C.S.I.	7.1 / 19
9	ABC	Monday Night Football	6.8 / 20
10	CBS	Everybody Loves Raymond	6.5 / 16
11	FOX	That ‘70s Show	6.2 / 19
12	NBC	Frasier	6.1 / 16
13	FOX	King Of The Hill	6.0 / 17
14	NBC	Law & Order	5.6 / 17
15	FOX	Boston Public	5.5 / 15
16	FOX	Bernie Mac	5.2 / 15
16	CBS	Yes, Dear	5.2 / 14
18	FOX	Ally McBeal	5.0 / 12
18	NBC	Scrubs	5.0 / 13
18	CBS	King Of Queens	5.0 / 14
Source: Nielsen Media Research

-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.

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