Because of Nielsen’s holiday schedule, we may not have Thursday cable 18-49 numbers for several days.  However, based on household ratings, ESPN got exactly the punch from the new COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS that it had hoped for with its multi-billion dollar license deal.  Preliminary numbers give yesterday’s ROSE BOWL a 15.5 household rating, up […]

  The broadcast networks aren’t what they used to be, and likely will never be again.  They’re collectively on a train that’s moving in the wrong direction, because the lion’s share of their revenues are based on the number of people who watch the commercials contained in their shows within a short time after initial […]

  There wasn’t much doubt about how at-home New Year’s Eve revelers preferred to watch 2015 come in. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  There were no changes from this morning’s preliminary ratings. Ratings in key demos for the Top 25 original cable telecasts (plus a few other lower-rated but noteworthy programs): ESPN’s COLLEGE BOWL games were again in control of Tuesday cable, with games at 1.93/1.41/1.05.  MOONSHINERS (Discovery) was at a steady 0.83, and a […]

  The only original programming on any broadcast network last night was CBS’s annual KENNEDY CENTER HONORS special, which was up 0.3 from last year to 1.2, enough to tie it with the preceding NCIS rerun as the highest-rated show of the night.  The rest of the networks were in rerun mode, including marathons of […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  The reruns of THE ORIGINALS and JANE THE VIRGIN each lost 0.1 in final numbers. Ratings in key demos for the Top 25 original cable telecasts (plus a few other lower-rated but noteworthy programs): ESPN has made itself the network of college bowl games, and December has as often as not seen […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  after the night’s NFL overruns were accounted for, UNDERCOVER BOSS gained 0.2 to 1.8, and the sliver of CSI that was in primetime was at 1.4.  SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, meanwhile, adjusted up to 6.6, up half a point from the previous week’s game. Ratings in key demos for the Top 25 original […]

  College sports controlled 5 of the top 6 slots on Saturday cable, with ESPN’s COLLEGE BOWL games led by the primetime game at 1.72, with afternoon games at 0.92 and 0.63, and COLLEGE BASKETBALL on ESPN2 at 1.08 and 0.41.  (Plus another college basketball game at 0.33.)  The sports was broken up by a […]