• by Wayne Friedman , June 1, 2006

Broadcast TV prime-time programming made audience gains this past season over ad-supported cable TV, said the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB).

The TVB said broadcast inched up to a combined Nielsen Media Research 35.75 prime-time household rating over last season's 34.78 number. This was nearly a 9 percent advantage over ad-supported cable's 32.87 cumulative rating.

These numbers are based on Nielsen's live-plus-same-day DVR viewing. The TVB looked at 60 plus cable networks for its research.

In addition, in the key adult 18-49 demographic, broadcast TV moved up to a 20.36 combined rating, improving from 19.50 the year before. Broadcast TV still has a 31.7 percent rating advantage in this demo over ad-supported cable TV.

Broadcast does even better with older demos. It delivered an aggregate 22.85 prime-time adult 25-54 rating, improving on last season's 21.89. The new number now beats ad-supported cable's 16.71 rating by 36.7 percent.

Cable made some improvements year to year, but broadcast improved more. For instance, cable gained a small 0.17 rating, but broadcast gained 0.86 rating in adults 18-49. Among adults 25-54, cable actually dipped by 0.07 rating year to year, while broadcast gained almost a full rating point--0.96.

The TVB says the top 235 programs among household viewers, the top 217 shows among adult 25-54 viewers, and top 187 programs among adult 18-49 viewers are broadcast shows. The highest-rated cable show in prime time was "Sunday Night Football" on NFL on ESPN, which came in at number 236 in households, number 218 among adults 25-54, and number 185 among adults 18-49.