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2010 Cable TV's Ratings Put Nets On Notice

  • USA Today, Friday, December 24, 2010 12:35 AM
Cable networks have been challenging broadcasters' hold on TV viewers for years, but the big networks' lackluster fall is proof of a new parity. Nielsen figures show the Big 4 and basic cable gained 1% in 2010 as overall viewing continues to rise to a record 34 hours a week. But the fall season has been less kind: Fox is down 15% and ABC is off 5%, offsetting smaller gains by CBS and NBC.

Few cable series outpace broadcast hits, but increasingly the strongest are beating many of their big-network rivals. TNT's "Rizzoli & Isles" averaged 8.8 million viewers for its 10-week summer run, and five others topped 6 million. Among viewers ages 18 to 49, AMC's zombie drama "The Walking Dead" and MTV's "Jersey Shore" were huge. "These are eye-popping numbers you didn't see a few years ago," says Jon Marks, senior vice president of research at Turner.

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