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struggles for 18-49s
Big Four in tight late-summer race for key demo
By Kevin Downey
The world of media may be coming to a late-August snooze-induced slowdown, but there is at least one area where indifference has yet to invade--the scramble to hold onto primetime viewers.
Certainly that is the case for the Big Four networks when it comes to viewers in the adult 18-49 demographic.
Last week was virtually a four-way nose-to-nose finish, with all four coming within three-tenths of a rating point of each other.
NBC held onto its lead but not by much, scoring its lowest rating in the demo since the summer TV season began 13 weeks ago.
More than anything, the close race was the result of NBC's losing its top-rated summer reality series, "Fear Factor." The show is off the schedule until September, when it will return for a final episode.
With "Fear" off NBC's Monday schedule, "Weakest Link" moved from 9 p.m. into "Fear's" vacated 8 p.m. time slot and promptly lost over 24 percent of its rating from a week earlier.
NBC’s other summer reality series, "Spy TV," fell 10 percent. That show had only one episode in the week, compared to up to four episodes in previous weeks.
The network also lacked big sports events like the NBA Finals and NASCAR, which boosted ratings earlier this summer.
NBC ended the week with a 2.8, adult 18-49, rating. CBS had a 2.6 and both ABC and Fox had a 2.5. UPN had a 1.3 to the WB’s 1.1.
On Thursday, NBC had a three-episode marathon of "Will & Grace," all of which ended up in the top-five in the 18-49 demo.
CBS had its own marathon with four episodes of its highest-rated sitcom, "Everybody Loves Raymond." Although those episodes all landed within the top-30, the show only boosted CBS’s rating by 5.5 percent over its regular Monday block of sitcoms.
The movie "Tin Cup" on Sunday had a 3.4, adult 18-49, rating and bettered CBS’s lineup of "Touched by an Angel" and the "Blue Moon" movie from a week earlier by 55 percent.
Like NBC, CBS had some trouble surrounding summer reality programs. But its troubles were minor.
"Big Brother 2" was moved from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. but lost only 2 percent of its rating on Thursday, when the latest housemate was voted out.
Its Saturday episode was replaced by preseason NFL football, which only managed to tie for No. 73. Its 1.8 rating was 25 percent below what "Big Brother 2" had the week earlier.
Still, CBS’s adult 18-49 rating was up two-tenths of a point from the previous week. And it tied ABC for No. 1 in households.
CBS and ABC had a 5.5 rating and 10 share. NBC had a 5.4/10, Fox had a 3.7/7, UPN had a 2.0/4, and the WB had a 1.9/3.
ABC was helped by three episodes of "Millionaire" that ranked as the top-three-rated shows of the week.
The network suffered, though, in the 18-49 demo.
Its "Wayne Brady" variety show dropped over 24 percent in the demo from its premiere but still tied for No. 13 last week.
"The Job," which ABC premiered in midseason and which is coming back in the fall, showed some serious signs of faltering.
It lost 32 percent of its "Drew Carey" lead-in and only ranked No. 56 with a 2.3, adult 18-49, rating.
Fox continued its summer slump after giving NBC a good chase for No. 1 in the regular season.
The network’s "Murder in Small Town X" continued to stumble with another 22 percent decline. It had a 1.8 rating and tied for No. 73.
Fox did better with preseason NFL than CBS, though. Its game tied for No. 51 with a 2.4, adult 18-49, rating.
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PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK |
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|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
||||||
|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
CBS |
5.5 |
5640 |
10 |
2.9 |
7650 |
9 |
2.6 |
3190 |
8 |
|
ABC |
5.5 |
5610 |
10 |
3.0 |
7790 |
9 |
2.5 |
3110 |
8 |
|
NBC |
5.4 |
5490 |
10 |
2.8 |
7340 |
8 |
2.8 |
3510 |
9 |
|
FOX |
3.7 |
3750 |
7 |
2.1 |
5420 |
6 |
2.5 |
3070 |
8 |
|
UPN |
2.0 |
2030 |
4 |
1.2 |
3190 |
4 |
1.3 |
1590 |
4 |
|
WB |
1.9 |
1910 |
3 |
1.1 |
2800 |
3 |
1.1 |
1400 |
4 |
|
PAX |
0.9 |
950 |
2 |
0.5 |
1310 |
1 |
0.4 |
540 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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SEASON-TO-DATE |
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|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
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|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
CBS |
7.8 |
8020 |
13 |
4.3 |
11320 |
12 |
3.6 |
4450 |
10 |
|
ABC |
7.5 |
7710 |
13 |
4.3 |
11160 |
12 |
3.9 |
4870 |
11 |
|
NBC |
7.4 |
7520 |
12 |
4.1 |
10690 |
11 |
4.4 |
5490 |
12 |
|
FOX |
5.5 |
5590 |
9 |
3.3 |
8510 |
9 |
3.9 |
4880 |
11 |
|
UPN |
2.3 |
2390 |
4 |
1.4 |
3580 |
4 |
1.5 |
1890 |
4 |
|
WB |
2.3 |
2360 |
4 |
1.3 |
3410 |
3 |
1.5 |
1820 |
4 |
|
PAX |
0.9 |
960 |
2 |
0.5 |
1350 |
1 |
0.4 |
460 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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NETWORK TV |
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|
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
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|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
# |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1 |
MILLIONAIRE- TUE |
ABC |
9.5 |
17 |
9741 |
2 |
5.0 |
13097 |
|
2 |
MILLIONAIRE- SUN |
ABC |
9.1 |
15 |
9346 |
1 |
5.1 |
13281 |
|
3 |
MILLIONAIRE- THU |
ABC |
8.7 |
14 |
8910 |
3 |
4.6 |
12066 |
|
4 |
LAW AND ORDER |
NBC |
8.6 |
15 |
8814 |
4 |
4.4 |
11552 |
|
5 |
20/20-FRI |
ABC |
8.0 |
15 |
8152 |
9 |
4.0 |
10527 |
|
6 |
60 MINUTES |
CBS |
7.8 |
15 |
7985 |
8 |
4.1 |
10620 |
|
7 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND-3(S) |
CBS |
7.7 |
13 |
7886 |
4 |
4.4 |
11454 |
|
7 |
PRIMETIME THURSDAY |
ABC |
7.7 |
13 |
7885 |
10 |
3.9 |
10142 |
|
9 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND |
CBS |
7.6 |
13 |
7720 |
4 |
4.4 |
11468 |
|
10 |
CSI |
CBS |
7.4 |
13 |
7513 |
7 |
4.2 |
10937 |
|
11 |
DATELINE NBC-MON |
NBC |
7.3 |
13 |
7414 |
12 |
3.7 |
9740 |
|
12 |
MILLIONAIRE- FRI |
ABC |
7.1 |
13 |
7214 |
11 |
3.8 |
10014 |
|
13 |
DATELINE NBC-TUE |
NBC |
7.0 |
12 |
7132 |
17 |
3.5 |
9268 |
|
13 |
WILL & GRACE |
NBC |
7.0 |
12 |
7155 |
14 |
3.6 |
9460 |
|
15 |
WILL & GRACE- SPL.(S) |
NBC |
6.8 |
11 |
6939 |
21 |
3.4 |
8929 |
|
16 |
CBS SUNDAY MOVIE ("Tin Cup") |
CBS |
6.6 |
11 |
6754 |
14 |
3.6 |
9375 |
|
16 |
WEST WING |
NBC |
6.6 |
11 |
6740 |
17 |
3.5 |
9182 |
|
18 |
FRIENDS |
NBC |
6.5 |
12 |
6629 |
12 |
3.7 |
9678 |
|
19 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND-2(S) |
CBS |
6.4 |
11 |
6519 |
14 |
3.6 |
9441 |
|
19 |
LAW AND ORDER:SVU |
NBC |
6.4 |
12 |
6524 |
26 |
3.3 |
8590 |
|
21 |
DHARMA & GREG |
ABC |
6.3 |
11 |
6408 |
21 |
3.4 |
8940 |
|
21 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND-1(S) |
CBS |
6.3 |
11 |
6416 |
17 |
3.5 |
9059 |
|
21 |
WEAKEST LINK |
NBC |
6.3 |
11 |
6461 |
21 |
3.4 |
8953 |
|
24 |
BIG BROTHER 2 |
CBS |
6.2 |
10 |
6373 |
17 |
3.5 |
9158 |
|
25 |
20/20- DOWNTOWN |
ABC |
6.0 |
11 |
6171 |
30 |
3.1 |
8141 |
|
25 |
60 MINUTES II |
CBS |
6.0 |
11 |
6170 |
34 |
3.0 |
7817 |
|
25 |
E.R. |
NBC |
6.0 |
11 |
6183 |
38 |
2.9 |
7632 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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|
CABLE TV |
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| BASIC CABLE | |||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Net |
(000) |
Rtg % | (000) |
|
1 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT |
TNN |
4711 |
4.6 |
7474 |
|
2 |
TBS ORIGINAL MOVIE(S)- 08/12/2001 |
TBS |
4122 |
4.0 |
6553 |
|
3 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT |
TNN |
4031 |
3.9 |
6639 |
|
4 |
TBS PRIME MOVIE (HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, THE) |
TBS |
2841 |
2.8 |
3916 |
|
5 |
SUNDAY MOVIE (DECEPTIONS, PART II) |
LIF |
2643 |
2.6 |
3263 |
|
6 |
ANY DAY NOW |
LIF |
2341 |
2.3 |
3071 |
|
7 |
NFL PRE-SEASON FOOTBALL |
ESPN |
2251 |
2.2 |
3128 |
|
8 |
STRONG MEDICINE |
LIF |
2236 |
2.2 |
2853 |
|
9 |
RUGRATS |
NICK |
2218 |
2.2 |
3559 |
|
10 |
TBS ORIGINAL MOVIE(S)- 08/12/2001 (TRIANGLE, THE) |
TBS |
2211 |
2.2 |
3284 |
|
11 |
ROCKET POWER |
NICK |
2200 |
2.2 |
3015 |
|
12 |
SATURDAY MOVIE I (FOR MY DAUGHTER HONOR) |
LIF |
2189 |
2.1 |
2856 |
|
13 |
NEW DETECTIVES-CASE STUDIES |
DISC |
2171 |
2.1 |
2885 |
|
14 |
SUNDAY MOVIE (CIRCLE OF DECEIT) |
LIF |
2155 |
2.1 |
2853 |
|
15 |
JACKASS |
MTV |
2124 |
2.1 |
3125 |
|
PAY CABLE |
|||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Net |
(000) |
Rtg % |
(000) |
|
1 |
SEX AND THE CITY(S)-08/12/2001 |
HBO |
4489 |
4.4 |
873 |
|
2 |
SIX FEET UNDER |
HBO |
4095 |
4.0 |
237 |
|
3 |
SOPRANOS, THE |
HBO |
2863 |
2.8 |
349 |
|
4 |
ARLISS(S)- 08/12/2001 |
HBO |
2524 |
2.5 |
161 |
|
5 |
DINNER WITH FRIENDS |
HBO |
2405 |
2.4 |
328 |
|
*Coverage area ratings are within each cable network's universe. |
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SYNDICATION |
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|
Households |
Households |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Syndicator |
Rtg % | (000) |
|
1 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE |
KIN |
8.3 |
8501 |
|
2 |
JEOPARDY |
KIN |
7.5 |
7642 |
|
3 |
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) |
KIN |
5.6 |
5680 |
|
4 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT) |
PRM |
5.5 |
5586 |
|
5 |
JUDGE JUDY (AT) |
PRM |
5.3 |
5417 |
|
6 |
SEINFELD-WKND |
CTS |
5.0 |
5082 |
|
7 |
FRIENDS-SYN (AT) |
WB |
4.8 |
4909 |
|
8 |
FRASIER-SYN (AT) |
PRM |
4.3 |
4372 |
|
8 |
SEINFELD |
CTS |
4.3 |
4361 |
|
10 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND |
KIN |
4.2 |
4279 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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August 22, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life.
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