Cable Surpasses Broadcast In April

  • by May 2, 2002
Ad-supported cable surpassed the seven national broadcast networks combined in primetime viewership for the month of April — the first time ever it has captured an entire month during the official (non-summer) TV season.

“We feel secure in our earlier forecast that the audience for ad-supported cable will surpass the seven broadcast networks on a total season basis in 2002/2003,” said CAB President & CEO Joe Ostrow.

According to a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen data for April in totality, ad-supported cable’s primetime U.S. household delivery rose 4.6 million homes (+17.4% compared to the same period a year ago); rating climbed 3.5 points (+13.7%); and share increased by 5.4 points (+12.4%).

In contrast, the seven broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, UPN, PAX) collectively lost almost 1.5 million homes in April (–4.9% versus the year before); 2.3 rating points (–7.8%); and 4.5 share points (–8.9%).

All told for the month of April, ad-supported cable’s primetime viewership exceeded the broadcast networks’ by 1.8 million homes, 1.7 rating points, and 3 share points.

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