Update 2: As predicted, just a game of chicken and TWC and Viacom have settled their dispute.

Update 1: commenter “Mikey” provided us with some data in the comments and I’ve cleaned up the formatting and posted here. It is an analysis of the subscriber monthly cost per cable channel per tenth of a ratings point. Based on this data, Mikey gives the moral high ground in the dispute to Viacom (though he isn’t advocating all the spin Viacom has surrounded its PR campaign with). There were some fairly big “wow” moments for me when I saw the cost of high performing networks ratings-wise like Nick and USA vs. say, TNT).

[original post from 12/30/08 below]

Doubtful.

I’d probably ignore this and it would have merely been a reply to a comment left about Nikki Finke’s post on the TWC vs. Viacom battle. But the comment was posted in the broadcast weekly top twenty, and replying there seemed awkward since it doesn’t have a freaking thing to do with cable channels.

Viacom is asking Time Warner to pony up an additional $.25 per month, per subscriber. Time Warner’s response so far is this: we’ll pass on you and your cable channels. So Viacom is working the press, spinning tales about how 20% of TV viewing time is spent watching their channels so the increase is very reasonable.

While I understand Ms. Finke’s dismay at potentially losing SpongeBob, my gut tells me that Viacom and TWC are different sides of exactly the same greedy coin. There’s so much spin in the blurb she posted from TWC, that sorting through how misleading it is isn’t worth the effort since conflict will likely be avoided.

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Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for December 30, 2008

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,085,000 viewers
CNN – 616,000 viewers
MSNBC –411,000 viewers
CNBC – 252,000 viewers
HLN – 342,000 viewers

P2+ Prime Time
FNC – 1,825,000 viewers
CNN—855,000 viewers
MSNBC –730,000 viewers
CNBC – 240,000 viewers
HLN – 861,000 viewers

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Frequent commenter “Mikey” provided us with some data that allows you to derive the relative price/value of cable channels based on what the cable networks charge per subscriber compared to the ratings. Here were Mikey’s disclaimers:

The HH Rtg for each network is a total day (6a-2a) rating from Jan 1 2008 to mid-August.

I simply divided the monthly subscriber fees, which are from a credible source that I can’t name, by the total day rating to come up with a “cost per tenth of a rating point”

In fairness to NFL Network and ESPN, this chart was produced in August so no NFL games are included. The NFL season will obviously help their ratings, although I would bet that in a year-end update of this chart they would still be the two least efficient channels on television.

The broadcast networks are not included because their sub fee is generally zero.

Scoreboard
Total Viewers (million)	11.46	8.01	5.53	4.69	4.34	1.08
Rating/Share: Adults 18-49	2.1/6	2.3/6	1.9/5	1.5/4	1.7/5	0.4/1
Rating/Share: Adults 18-34	1.0/3	1.7/6	1.6/5	1.2/4	1.7/5	0.4/1

An NCIS repeat and the Kennedy Center Honors Special led CBS to a win among viewers.  Meanwhile, NBC won both age demographics  with repeats of Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.

Light posting until 1/5… Happy New Year!

Full details:

Shows are sorted by viewers in each time slot.

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Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.