NEW YORK: All Big Four broadcast nets were down in average household ratings compared to a year ago for the week ending June 28. Only CBS maintained its audience gain season-to-date compared to a year ago.
Wachovia’s ad market update: “Upfront could be somewhat disappointing after NBC reportedly signs a deal for broadcast CPMs of -7 percent. Anecdotal comments suggest the other broadcast nets will write business in line with our expectations--down 2-6 percent--with the likelihood of estimate risk increasing for next year.”
Wachovia’s report tracks the weekly (ending June 28) and season-to-date (STD), year-to-year change in average households data for broadcast (live plus same day) and audience data for cable nets (live plus same day): STD is prime time (PT) unless otherwise noted, e.g., Food and HGTV.
-- Disney (ABC): Prime-time average household (HH) rating was -12 percent for total HHs and -21 percent for P18-49. STD avg. audience was -8 percent for both.
-- CBS (CBS): PT avg. HH rating was -3 percent for total HHs and -13 percent for P18-49. STD avg. audience was +7 percent and +2 percent, respectively.
-- News Corp (Fox): PT avg. HH rating was -25 percent for total HHs and -24 percent for P18-49. STD avg. audience was -16 percent and -19 percent, respectively.
-- GE (NBC): PT avg. HH rating was -12 percent for total HHs and -16 percent for P18-49. STD avg. audience was -9 percent and -5 percent, respectively.
-- Viacom:
BET PT avg. audience was +56 percent for P2+ and +63 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was +24 percent for P2+ and +27 percent for P25-54.
Comedy Central PT avg. audience was -11 percent for P2+ and -8 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was -1 percent and -3 percent, respectively.
MTV PT avg. audience was -12 percent for P2+ and +4 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was -23 percent and -13 percent, respectively.
VH1 PT avg. audience was -3 percent for P2+ and +3 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was -5 percent and -3 percent, respectively.
Nickelodeon PT avg. audience was +6 percent for P2+ and +8 percent for P2-11. STD avg. audience was +8 percent and +8 percent, respectively.
-- Discovery:
Discovery Channel PT avg. audience was +17 percent for P2+ and +13 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was +5 percent and +6 percent, respectively.
The Learning Channel PT avg. audience was +88 percent for P2+ and +84 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was +12 percent and +4 percent, respectively.
Animal Planet PT avg. audience was -3 percent for P2+ and +25 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was +7 percent and +16 percent, respectively.
-- Scripps:
HGTV PT avg. audience was -7 percent for P2+ and -17 percent for P25-54. STD PT avg. audience was +3 percent and -1 percent, respectively. STD total day avg. audience was -2 percent for P2+ and -1 percent for P25-54.
Food Network PT avg. audience was +32 percent for P2+ and +24 percent for P25-54. STD PT avg. audience was +16 percent for P2+ and +15 percent for P25-54. STD total day avg. audience was +9 percent for P2+ and +7 percent for P25-54.
-- Disney:
ESPN PT avg. audience was +20 percent for P2+ and +18 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was flat for both.
Disney Channel PT avg. audience was +39 percent for P2+ and +35 percent for P2-11. STD avg. audience was -6, and -6 percent respectively.
-- News Corp.:
Fox News Channel PT avg. audience was +39 percent for P2+ and +77 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was +44 percent and +51 percent respectively.
F/X PT avg. audience was -1 percent for P2+ and +3 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was +4 percent for P2+ and +5 percent for P25-54.
National Geographic PT avg. audience was +4 percent for P2+ and -7 percent for P25-54. STD avg. audience was +11 percent and +8 percent, respectively.
More TVB coverage of the upfront market:
June 19, 2009: “NBC Said to Be Near Upfront Deal”
Press reports are saying that NBC is close to writing the first upfront deal covering its broadcast and cable networks, with broadcast cost-per-thousand viewers down 7 percent form last year and cable down 2 percent.
(Image by Muhammad Ahmed)
