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BY SHIRLEY BRADY
Prime-time viewership among men 18 to 34 is drooping to 12% this year, but that didn't stop ESPN's performance in conquering all cable last month. The network's total day average for men in the coveted 18-to-34 demo was up 25%, from 0.8 to 1.0, thanks to record numbers for the baseball playoffs and the strength of the NFL.
That sports two-fer put ESPN at the top of cable's ratings for October with an average 2.4 rating in prime time (2.08 million households), according to Nielsen Media Research. It was the best-ever month for ESPN and ESPN2, which saw prime-time ratings increases of 41% and 50%, respectively, over 2002 and built on the networks' most-watched third quarter ever.
Cable's other top five for October after ESPN: Disney Channel (1.9 average rating), TNT and Nick (1.8 each), USA and Cartoon (1.7 apiece).
ESPN's nine MLB division series telecasts averaged a 3.9 rating while ESPN2's four games averaged a 3.0 to become the most-watched programs in its history. ESPN's Sunday Night Football in October averaged a 2.4 rating, up 22% from 2002, while NFL Live on ESPN2 averaged a 0.4 rating, up 48% from the show it replaced (NFL 2Night). ESPN's Oct. 26 telecast of the Kansas City Chiefs/Buffalo Bills game was the highest-rated (7.8 rating) cable show for the month.
Also bucking the ?who let the guys out?? trend: Spike TV, which saw the Oct. 28 finale of reality show Joe Schmo more than double its earlier record to score 3.4 million viewers. Joe ? the network's top-rated show since its August makeover from TNN ? averaged 876,000 18- to 34-year-old viewers, or about five times higher than TNN saw in the time slot.
Although baseball delivered a ratings home run, cable news networks struck out, falling 33% from October 2002's sniper-pumped prime-time numbers (but only 6% from September 2003). Fox News Channel sagged the least, dropping 29% from '02 to 1.12 million viewers, while CNN continued narrowing its Iraqi war gap with FNC to 446,000 viewers.
TLC's Trading Spaces: $100 Grand special on Oct. 5 paid off big with a 7.0 rating, which boosted the network's October to a 1.3 average. TLC's October Friday nights rose 135% (to 1.46) thanks to While You Were Out and What Not to Wear.
Cartoon Network's Friday nights saw double-digit increases in the 6-to-11 demo while MTV's Sunday Night Stew mix was No. 1 with 12- to 24-year-olds.
Seven MTV shows averaging 2.0 or higher made it the network's highest-rated October in the 12-to-34 demo.
It was also the best-ever October prime time for HGTV (0.9 average) and Court TV (0.8). VH1 scored its highest-rated week in four years.
Showing the largest day increases over October 2002: Hallmark Channel (up 119%), Fuse (67%), Bravo and ESPN2 (56%) and SoapNet (44%).
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