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Mike Reynolds
Cable's march against broadcast, despite a slight slowdown in its advance during March, continued at a strong pace during the first quarter of 1999.
Basic cable scored a 10% increase to an average prime time rating of 24.6 over the period covering Dec. 28, 1998 to March 28, up from the 22.3 rating recorded in the similar year-earlier span of Dec. 29, 1997, through March 29, 1998, according to a Turner Broadcast System Inc. analysis of Nielsen Media Research data. On the delivery side, cable's growth clip was 12%, translating into nearly 24.5 million house-holds on average in prime time, compared with almost 21.9 million during the year-earlier period.
During March, cable posted an 8% increase in average prime time ratings to a 24.8 from a 23.0 in March 1998, while household delivery improved 10% to 24.7 million households from 22.5 million households.
Bob Sieber, VP-audience development at Turner, was encouraged by the industry's performance overall. "This marked the eighth back-to-back quarter in which basic cable posted double-digit gains in prime time ratings, and we're now at 84 consecutive weeks of gains in prime time versus broadcast," he said.
"(Broadcasters) thought that streak was coming to an end two weeks ago, when cable was being measured against a very strong week last year with (the premiere of USA Network's mini-series) Moby Dick," he added, saying that the industry's household delivery has been up between 11%-12% during the past eight quarters.
As for the broadcast industry, ABC (flat at an 8.4), CBS (down 13% to a 9.1) and NBC (off 6% to a 9.2) saw their collected weighted average in prime time fall 6% to a 26.3 during the first quarter, according to the Turner analysis. With Fox (minus 6% to a 6.8) being added to the equation, the four net-work weighted average declined 6% to 30.8 from a 32.8 in the year-earlier period. Mixing in UPN (a 23% decrease to a 2.0) and The WB (even at a 3.3), the six network weighted average in prime fell 4% to a 33.4 from a 34.8.
Looking ahead, Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau president and CEO Joe Ostrow is sanguine about the medium's prospects for the balance of 1999. "The historical correlation between basic cable's audience levels for the first quarter and how it fares for the entire official broadcast season gives us yet another reason to be extremely optimistic about the upcoming months," he said.
Per usual, Nickelodeon led the way in total-day ratings with a 1.6, unchanged from the first quarter of 1998. TBS, which grew 9% to a 1.2, placed second, while USA and Lifetime, both increasing 10%, were tied for third at a 1.1.
As to the top shows, it was wrestling and more wrestling, as grappling shows pinned no less than 75 of the top 100 rated shows.
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