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NBC can thank Fox
Record viewers bring network another 18-49 win
By Kevin Downey
NASCAR auto racing proved itself again to be one of the more innovative and successful sports franchises on network television last week.
The Pepsi 400 on NBC last Saturday was the highest-rated NASCAR race ever in primetime and helped NBC land its seventh straight adult 18-49 ratings victory this summer.
The race improved over last year’s airing on CBS by 17 percent.
It averaged a 6.1 household rating with 25 million people watching at least part of the race, according to NBC.
NBC’s coverage beat CBS’s 1999 Pepsi 400, which had been the highest-rated NASCAR race up until last week, and Fox’s Lowe’s 600, which had the highest overnight rating ever.
But NBC owes a major debt to Fox for its strong NASCAR performance.
"Fox went out and treated NASCAR as their major sports property for the first half of the year," says Mike McCarthy, editor of Motorsportstv.com.
"They set the bar very high and raised the production bar too. It’s good that there’s been such a strong lead-in from Fox and NBC has to feel real good about that."
The NASCAR races have benefited greatly from heavy promotion by the networks and consistent scheduling. That’s something that had been missing when NASCAR races flipped regularly from one cable network to another.
But NASCAR has also gained a whole lot more attention since the death of Dale Earnhardt.
And in the best tradition of nail-biting TV, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who moved up from sixth place in the last six laps of the race, won the Pepsi 400.
"Certainly, the Dale Earnhardt tragedy has caused some of the ratings spike because people have become more aware of the sport," says McCarthy.
The Pepsi 400 was the No. 7 show last week in the 18-49 demo. It was one of six shows NBC had in the top-10 and improved on its regular Saturday movie by at least 72 percent.
NBC finished the week with a 3.2 adult 18-49 rating.
That was its best showing since the NBA Finals last month and continued NBC’s dominance in the 18-49 demo. The network struggled to hold onto No. 1 during the regular season but has won every week in the demo since the season ended in late May.
Fox was far behind with a 2.4, ABC had a 2.3, and CBS had a 2.2. UPN had a 1.3 and the WB had a 0.8.
But the NASCAR race also helped NBC to only its third household rating win this summer.
NBC had a 5.3 household rating and 10 share. CBS and ABC tied for No. 2 with a 5.2/10 and Fox had a 3.6/7. UPN had a 1.9/4 to the WB’s 1.5/3.
Meanwhile, NBC’s original summer reality shows continue to do fairly well.
Regularly scheduled episodes of "Weakest Link," "Spy TV," and "Fear Factor" were all among the top-10 last week in the adult 18-49 demo.
But perhaps in a sign of reality overload, ratings for each of NBC’s entries were down considerably in a holiday week that makes direct comparison with previous weeks a bit difficult.
"Weakest" was down nearly 6 percent and a Sunday installment ranked No. 15.
"Spy TV" proved somewhat resilient with only a 2 percent rating tumble but "Fear Factor’s" rating was down over 11 percent from a week earlier.
Sharp declines for NBC’s already poorly rated summer sitcoms, however, make a future slot on the network’s schedule highly unlikely.
The rating for "Go Fish" was down about 27 percent from a week earlier and the show ranked a dismal No. 58. "Kristin’s" rating continued to slide with over a 35 percent drop to a 2.0 and No. 52 rank.
But most of NBC’s new shows are doing better than those on other networks.
CBS brought back its lambasted but decently rated "Big Brother" with two episodes last week. The first ranked a decent No. 14, with a 3.5 rating in the 18-49 demo, but the second, which pulled CBS into fourth place on Saturday, tied at No. 58.
While "Big Brother 2," like its predecessor, will never be another "Survivor," its two episodes improved on ratings from a week earlier for "CSI" and "Walker: Texas Ranger" repeats by 59 and 90 percent, respectively.
ABC’s "You Don’t Know Jack" was down 47 percent to a 1.7 rating but suffered mostly from airing on the Fourth of July.
|
PRIMETIME AVERAGES BY NETWORK |
|||||||||
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
||||||
|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
NBC |
5.3 |
5410 |
10 |
3.0 |
7760 |
9 |
3.2 |
3950 |
11 |
|
CBS |
5.2 |
5360 |
10 |
2.8 |
7210 |
9 |
2.2 |
2690 |
7 |
|
ABC |
5.2 |
5270 |
10 |
2.8 |
7260 |
9 |
2.3 |
2870 |
8 |
|
FOX |
3.6 |
3720 |
7 |
2.1 |
5470 |
7 |
2.4 |
2980 |
8 |
|
UPN |
1.9 |
1990 |
4 |
1.2 |
3040 |
4 |
1.3 |
1570 |
5 |
|
WB |
1.5 |
1560 |
3 |
0.9 |
2270 |
3 |
0.8 |
1040 |
3 |
|
PAX |
0.8 |
820 |
2 |
0.4 |
1150 |
1 |
0.3 |
410 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|||||||||
|
SEASON-TO-DATE |
|||||||||
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
ADULTS 18-49 |
||||||
|
Net |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
Rtg |
(000) |
SHR |
|
CBS |
8.2 |
8350 |
14 |
4.5 |
11840 |
12 |
3.8 |
4660 |
10 |
|
ABC |
7.8 |
8020 |
13 |
4.5 |
11660 |
12 |
4.1 |
5120 |
11 |
|
NBC |
7.6 |
7810 |
13 |
4.3 |
11140 |
11 |
4.6 |
5720 |
13 |
|
FOX |
5.7 |
5850 |
9 |
3.4 |
8940 |
9 |
4.1 |
5140 |
11 |
|
WB |
2.4 |
2450 |
4 |
1.4 |
3550 |
3 |
1.5 |
1900 |
4 |
|
UPN |
2.4 |
2440 |
4 |
1.4 |
3650 |
4 |
1.5 |
1930 |
4 |
|
PAX |
0.9 |
970 |
2 |
0.5 |
1360 |
1 |
0.4 |
460 |
1 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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|
NETWORK TV |
||||||||
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|
|
|
HOUSEHOLDS |
PERSONS 2+ |
||||
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
# |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1 |
MILLIONAIRE- SUN |
ABC |
9.4 |
15 |
9556 |
1 |
5.1 |
13371 |
|
2 |
MILLIONAIRE- THU |
ABC |
8.1 |
14 |
8248 |
3 |
4.2 |
10867 |
|
3 |
20/20-FRI |
ABC |
7.9 |
15 |
8035 |
7 |
4.0 |
10571 |
|
3 |
WEAKEST LINK |
NBC |
7.9 |
14 |
8037 |
2 |
4.6 |
11923 |
|
5 |
MILLIONAIRE- TUE |
ABC |
7.8 |
16 |
7975 |
3 |
4.2 |
11005 |
|
6 |
CSI |
CBS |
7.6 |
13 |
7743 |
5 |
4.1 |
10760 |
|
7 |
60 MINUTES |
CBS |
7.4 |
15 |
7546 |
9 |
3.8 |
9918 |
|
7 |
EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND |
CBS |
7.4 |
13 |
7602 |
5 |
4.1 |
10729 |
|
9 |
FRIENDS |
NBC |
7.1 |
14 |
7296 |
9 |
3.8 |
9983 |
|
10 |
48 HOURS |
CBS |
6.8 |
12 |
6988 |
14 |
3.4 |
8948 |
|
11 |
48 HOURS- MONDAY |
CBS |
6.6 |
12 |
6753 |
13 |
3.6 |
9381 |
|
12 |
FEAR FACTOR |
NBC |
6.4 |
12 |
6552 |
9 |
3.8 |
10076 |
|
13 |
LAW AND ORDER:SVU |
NBC |
6.3 |
12 |
6458 |
17 |
3.3 |
8579 |
|
14 |
BECKER |
CBS |
6.2 |
11 |
6355 |
14 |
3.4 |
8777 |
|
14 |
CBS SUNDAY MOVIE ("A Father for Brittany") |
CBS |
6.2 |
10 |
6326 |
23 |
3.1 |
8183 |
|
16 |
DAYTONA 400(S) (NASCAR Winston Cup) |
NBC |
6.1 |
13 |
6183 |
8 |
3.9 |
10221 |
|
16 |
MILLIONAIRE- FRI |
ABC |
6.1 |
12 |
6221 |
20 |
3.2 |
8429 |
|
18 |
60 MINUTES II |
CBS |
6.0 |
11 |
6141 |
20 |
3.2 |
8355 |
|
18 |
SPY TV |
NBC |
6.0 |
11 |
6112 |
14 |
3.4 |
8861 |
|
18 |
WILL & GRACE |
NBC |
6.0 |
11 |
6160 |
20 |
3.2 |
8463 |
|
21 |
DATELINE FRI |
NBC |
5.9 |
12 |
6048 |
27 |
3.0 |
7857 |
|
21 |
SIMPSONS |
FOX |
5.9 |
11 |
6074 |
12 |
3.7 |
9707 |
|
23 |
ABC NEWS SPECIAL-7/5(S) ("Women & Cigarettes") |
ABC |
5.8 |
11 |
5976 |
30 |
2.9 |
7712 |
|
23 |
BIG BROTHER II |
CBS |
5.8 |
11 |
5909 |
23 |
3.1 |
8176 |
|
23 |
E.R. |
NBC |
5.8 |
10 |
5877 |
27 |
3.0 |
7904 |
|
23 |
TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL |
CBS |
5.8 |
11 |
5919 |
30 |
2.9 |
7715 |
|
23 |
WEAKEST LINK-SUN |
NBC |
5.8 |
10 |
5975 |
17 |
3.3 |
8602 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
||||||||
|
CABLE TV |
|||||
| BASIC CABLE | |||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Net |
(000) |
Rtg % | (000) |
|
1 |
RUSH HOUR |
TBS |
4944 |
4.8 |
7856 |
|
2 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT |
TNN |
4142 |
4.1 |
5882 |
|
3 |
RUSH HOUR |
TBS |
3766 |
3.7 |
5901 |
|
4 |
WWF ENTERTAINMENT |
TNN |
3375 |
3.3 |
4975 |
|
5 |
TBS PRIME MOVIE (LETHAL WEAPON) |
TBS |
2739 |
2.7 |
4081 |
|
6 |
SUNDAY MOVIE I (OUR MOTHERS MURDER) |
Life |
2310 |
2.3 |
2628 |
|
7 |
SUNDAY MOVIE (LIES OF THE HEART) |
Life |
2217 |
2.2 |
2581 |
|
8 |
TBS MOVIE SUNDAY (ABOVE THE LAW) |
TBS |
2208 |
2.2 |
3059 |
|
9 |
SUNDAY AFTERNOON MOVIE (WOMAN ON THE RUN, PT II) |
Life |
2186 |
2.1 |
2825 |
|
10 |
SUNDAY MOVIE III (BITTER BLOOD, PT. II) |
Life |
2149 |
2.1 |
2821 |
|
11 |
MAJOR-LEAGUE BASEBALL L |
ESPN |
2019 |
2.0 |
2873 |
|
12 |
AS TOLD BY GINGER |
Nick |
1993 |
2.0 |
2677 |
|
13 |
ROCKET POWER |
Nick |
1989 |
1.9 |
2953 |
|
14 |
RUGRATS |
Nick |
1985 |
1.9 |
2604 |
|
15 |
SPONGEBOB |
Nick |
1963 |
1.9 |
2393 |
|
PAY CABLE |
|||||
|
House- |
House- holds |
Persons 2+ |
|||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
(000) |
Rtg % |
(000) |
|
|
1 |
SEX AND THE CITY (S)-07/01/2001 |
3799 |
3.7 |
5470 |
|
|
2 |
SIX FEET UNDER |
3250 |
3.2 |
4638 |
|
|
3 |
ARLISS (S)-07/01/2001 |
2192 |
2.1 |
2962 |
|
|
4 |
SIX FEET UNDER |
2000 |
2 |
2854 |
|
|
5 |
SEX AND THE CITY (S)-06/27/2001 |
1925 |
1.9 |
2446 |
|
| *Total
U.S. ratings and household projections are based on 102.2 million TV
homes. *For inclusion in the rankings, telecasts must be promoted as distinct programs and must be of 5 minutes minimum duration. Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|||||
|
SYNDICATION |
|||
|
Households |
Households |
||
|
# |
PROGRAM NAME |
Rtg % |
(000) |
|
1 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE |
8.2 |
8401 |
|
2 |
JEOPARDY |
7.2 |
7399 |
|
3 |
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) |
5.6 |
5687 |
|
4 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT) |
5.3 |
5447 |
|
4 |
JUDGE JUDY (AT) |
5.3 |
5413 |
|
6 |
FRIENDS-SYN (AT) |
5.1 |
5235 |
|
7 |
SEINFELD-WKND |
4.5 |
4615 |
|
7 |
FRASIER-SYN (AT) |
4.5 |
4570 |
|
9 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND |
4.4 |
4524 |
|
10 |
SEINFELD |
4.0 |
4087 |
| 11 |
LIVE! WITH REGIS & KELLY |
3.8 |
3835 |
| 12 |
JERRY SPRINGER (AT) |
3.7 |
3743 |
| 13 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD |
3.6 |
3709 |
| 14 |
MAURY (AT) |
3.3 |
3386 |
| 14 |
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT) |
3.3 |
3368 |
| 16 |
XENA |
3.2 |
3283 |
| 16 |
FRIENDS WEEKND (AT) |
3.2 |
3241 |
| 18 |
ER-SYN (AT) |
3.1 |
3139 |
| 19 |
HOLLYWOOD SQUARES |
3.0 |
3091 |
| 19 |
X-FILES-SYN (AT) |
3.0 |
3081 |
| 21 |
MONTEL WILLIAMS SHOW |
2.9 |
3011 |
| 21 |
EXTRA |
2.9 |
2938 |
| 21 |
DREW CAREY (AT) |
2.9 |
2919 |
| 24 |
3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN(AT) |
2.8 |
2817 |
| 25 |
INSIDE EDITION |
2.7 |
2777 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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July 11, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Kevin Downey is a staff writer for Media Life
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