Ad-supported cable surpassed a 50 primetime share of viewing in Week #29 (April 8-14) of the 2001/2002 TV season - the first time ever it has reached this audience level during an official
(non-summer) broadcast season in which it's up against a regular schedule of first-run broadcast network programming. According to a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of
Nielsen data, ad-supported cable's primetime U.S. household share was 50.3 - an increase of 5.1 points (+11.3%) from the same period last year. Delivery was up 4.8
million homes to 31.3 million (+18.3%) and rating climbed by 3.8 points to 29.7 (+14.7%)-both season highs. Collectively in Week #29, the seven broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, UPN, PAX)
were down by 386,000 homes (-1.4%); 1.2 rating points (-4.4%); and 3.6 share points (-7.5%) versus last year. Ad-supported cable's primetime delivery outdistanced the broadcast networks by 3.6 million
homes.
