|
|
This May sweeps
belongs to NBC
Up in adults 18-49, households and total viewers
By Toni Fitzgerald
No surprise, NBC is leading among
adults 18-49 by a substantial margin in the early days of May sweeps.
But this is a surprise: The network that focuses exclusively
on young adults is also ahead among households and total viewers. And it
could well stay that way as sweeps continues, with mega-audiences expected for
last night’s “Friends” finale and next week’s “Frasier” bow.
NBC is the only network showing increases versus last year to
this point in the sweeps across all major demographics, including a 20
percent rise among 18-49s and a 17 percent rise among total viewers.
Should NBC remain ahead in households and total viewers, it would be a mighty interesting upset considering CBS has owned those
categories the past few years, including at least six straight sweeps wins
and a bounce among adults 18-49 this year.
That has made CBS the fashionable pick for big increases
heading into the upfront, where media buyers and planners say the
older-skewing network has the most momentum.
But with the success of “The Apprentice” last month,
November and February sweeps wins among 18-49s already behind it and now
this surprising spring forward among total viewers, could NBC actually be
the hottest network?
It didn’t look that way four months ago, before “The
Apprentice” appeared and with “Friends’” absence looming ahead.
Yet NBC is showing once again that it is perhaps the smartest network when
it comes to stunting, and that’s how you get the most eyeballs.
In addition to getting big audiences for the finales, NBC
proved Sunday that the miniseries genre is not dead and that it’s still
possible to attract loads of viewers to such an event.
That’s what has pushed NBC ahead thus far, as the two
nights of the critically panned “10.5” nonetheless averaged more than
20 million viewers. It is up 17 percent over last year among total viewers
to this point in sweeps with an average 13.14 million compared with CBS’s
12.5 million.
Among 18-49s NBC is averaging a 5.3 rating, well ahead of
second-place Fox at 4.0. Fox can perhaps take consolation that it won’t
have to come from behind for second place this sweeps as it did in
February – third-place CBS is well back at a 3.5 average, even to last
year.
Fourth-place ABC has dipped 13 percent among 18-49s with a
2.8 average. It’s also down 15 percent among households.
Among the two smaller networks, February sweeps darling UPN
is having a rough start. The network, which finished ahead of the WB in
households in February, is off 16 percent versus last year, the biggest
household dip for any network.
The WB is down just 3 percent in that category.
UPN’s woes continue among 18-49s and 25-54s, where it is
down 21 and 20 percent, respectively, and is nearly 20 percent behind the
WB. The WB’s dips are a comparatively mild 11 and 6 percent, though that
should increase as sweeps goes on and last year’s monster “Dawson’s
Creek” finale numbers are added.
|
MAY SWEEPS
PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK
April 29, 2004 through May 5, 2004 |
|
Network |
Households* |
|
Adults 18-49 |
|
Adults 25-54 |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
Rtg% |
Shr |
|
NBC |
8.6 |
14 |
5.3 |
15 |
6.0 |
15 |
|
CBS |
8.3 |
14 |
3.5 |
10 |
4.5 |
11 |
|
FOX |
5.9 |
10 |
4.0 |
11 |
4.1 |
9 |
|
ABC |
4.9 |
8 |
2.8 |
8 |
3.2 |
8 |
|
WB |
2.5 |
4 |
1.6 |
5 |
1.6 |
4 |
|
UPN |
2.0 |
3 |
1.1 |
3 |
1.2 |
3 |
|
* Each rating point is
equivalent to 1.084 million homes
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
May 7, 2004© 2004
Media Life
-
Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for
Media Life.
|
|
|
|
