• by Wayne Friedman , April 4, 2016

Although individual cable networks can have low "reach" among TV viewers, combining their group broadcast networks can make them more attractive to TV marketers.

Brian Wieser, senior research analyst for Pivotal Research Group, says that as groups look to more closely integrate advertising sales across their broadcast and cable networks, combining networks becomes important.

For example, NBCUniversal’s broadcast and cable networks offer up a combined reach of 93% for TV homes watching in a particular month, versus 78% for just NBC’s cable networks and 84% for the NBC Television Network.

This comes from Nielsen live plus seven days of viewing for the month of February.

Fox totals a 91% reach for all its networks, with a 74% reach for its cable networks and 81% for the Fox broadcast network. Disney has a combined 91% for its broadcast and cable channels.

“A network group combining sales efforts in this manner should be better able to fight for a first look at a marketer’s ‘wallet’ (and a disproportionate share of spending) and serve as a foundation for a given marketer’s efforts with the medium,” writes Wieser.

Looking at the individual broadcast networks, CBS has the greatest reach at 90%, followed by ABC with 85%: NBC at 84%; Fox with 81%; CW at 65%; and Univision with 23%.

NBC has the highest reach for all its cable networks, at 78%. followed by Time Warner at 77%; Viacom with 76%; Fox at 74%; Discovery Networks with 72%; Disney at 71%; A+E Networks with 70%; AMC Networks at 66%; and Scripps Networks Interactive with 65%.

Individual cable networks' median reach was 27% -- with the high going to TNT at 52% and the low going to Discovery en Espanol, at 3%. Other top cable network reach numbers go to general interest networks. FX, TBS and AMC, all of which reach 50% or more. ESPN was ranked in 15th place, with a reach of 41%. 

Wieser cautions that individual network reach -- for broadcast and cable -- can jump around a bit. In February, for example, CBS boosted its reach level due to its airing of the Super Bowl.