Univision, Fox, CW, Gain vs. Last Season; NBC, CBS Fall; ABC Mixed
(click image for full sized chart)
Univision, Fox, and CW all showed gains in the first week of the 2008-9 season compared to the 2007-8 season, particularly in the age demos where Fox was up and CW was up sharply vs. last season. CW was up 19% for adults 18-34 compared to last season, 12.2% for adults 18-49 and 10.9% for adults 25-54. Fox was up 13.0% for adults 25-54.
On the downside, CBS and NBC both were down sharply from their first week compared to last year. Note that CBS has yet to start CSI or its entire Friday line up and NBC still has Deal or No Deal and 30 Rock yet to premiere. NBC was down a sobering 16.3% in average audience, 12.9% in adults 18-49, 7.4% in adults 18-34 and 15.4% in adults 25-54. Ben Silverman call your agent.
CBS fell 5.0% in average audience, 9.6% in adults 18-49, a stunning 22.1% in adults 18-34 (their old audience just got a lot older), and 6.8% in adults 25-54.
ABC was mixed and very close to last season’s starting week results, up 2.9% for average audience, down 1.2% for adults 18-49, unchanged for adults 18-34 and down 1.8% for adults 25-54.
Overall it was a slow start for the top 6 broadcast networks this season. All 6 networks together were down 1.6% for average audience, 2.3% for adults 18-49, 1.7% for adults 18-34 and 2.9% for adults 25-54.
10/1 Update: Even though I averaged in the Univision ratings with the rest of the broadcast ups and downs, no one else in the TV media does, and I wanted to have an apples to apples comparison, so I have added another bar named “English 5″ which excludes Univision. On that basis, the first week of the season was down in total about 3% across the board for the English networks.
Our chart shows broadcast network prime-time season to date average prime-time viewership for the 2008-9 season compared to the 2007-8 season.
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
You know what? TV has changed. People have changed. The world i ever changing. More people watch cable/dish television. Some areas, if you don’t have Cable/Dish can only get certain channels. I know I became a BIG fan of NBC over years for simple fact that until cable came out with such great package deals, I REFUSED to pay the outrageous prices for cable & I’m not a big fan of the dish. In the area I lived I could only really get 1 network channel, that was NBC. I got the local PBS channel & a local access channel and that was pretty much it. If that’s what it was like for me, what’s the rest of America dealing with? Now, I actually like some of the Cable network shows. Plus with Cable/dish there a fewer commercials. I DVR my soap, Yes, Days of our Lives, and it amazes me how many commercials there are. Luckily, I can fast forward them so it’s not so bad. AND, I understand that that’s the best time to generate revenue for the network.
I love the crossover of of HBO & NBC “advertising” on each other’s channels. That’s ingenius!! Great Job BENJI! lol
Good point DD. Where I live the dish people will not let me get Fox news, Fox sports, FX, MSNBC, Turner Classic, BET, etc. When they threw three free weeks of Hallmark and Turner Classic ( sequentially, not concurrently) I watched those channels often. But the ratings game is just that – a game. It has rules and a set of parameters which make sense only within the context of the game. Advertisers know it, networks know it, media journalists know it. The shadow on the wall is the game. What luminous source casts the shadow? Ad rates per minute. The customer is not the viewer, but the sponsor – Geiko, Smiling Bob, Obama, McCain, whomever. They, not us, control the rules.
wow, CBS is plunging among 18-34 year olds. ABC is really steady looking. Uni and CW are way up, oddly enough. Fox keeps moving up in the world, good for it! I”m really disappointed with NBC’s downturn.
It deserves better.