Cable Doing Pretty Well vs. Broadcast for the Summer: A Trend?

The America's Got Talent Judges

Their Show is #1 in the Rating

A look at the TV ratings for last week shows that the broadcast networks have bailed on presenting new programs, with the exception of reality shows.  And they are being given a pretty good run for their money by the cable outlets that have stepped up to bring viewers original programs for the summer.  Shockingly, the repeats and reality win out overall, but that won’t continue as Internet television grows and more people watch programs via their electronic devices.

There are tons of viewers for America’s Got Talent, The Bachelorette and Big Brother and, unbelievably, a good number for repeats of NCIS, CSI and only one sitcom, Big Bang.  But there are also millions of people being drawn to The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Burn Notice, True Blood, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs and the newest USA entry, Suits.

Kudos to USA and TNT.  They’re producing good, solid programs that, as they say in their promos, are character-driven.  And they are blazing trails by admitting that people do watch television during the summer.

I’m only surprised that White Collar, Necessary Roughness and Hot in Cleveland are not cutting it.  Those are show I highly recommend.  It’s also interesting that Rescue Me, which debuted during the week of July 17, isn’t even in the top 25.  It seems Denis Leary and his co-executive producers have lost their ability to bring anything new to that program.  And, as Verne Gay of Newsday said last week, how many times can you go back to the September 11 angst for stories?

It’s possible that there are many households out there who still do not have cable (the current number of those with cable is estimated at 85%), or who do not venture beyond the channels that they're used to, but I’m sure this trend away from the broadcast networks will continue to evolve.  In a few years, the Big Four (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) may be way behind, particularly as watching online continues its upward trajectory.  You’d think they’d be making plans to catch up by now.

Broadcast TV Ratings: Week Ending July 17, 2011

Time	Network	Show	#Viewers	Rating	Share
1	NBC	America’s Got Talent (Tues)	14 mil	7.8	13
2	NBC	America’s Got Talent (Wed)	11.4 mil	6.8	11
3	FOX	FOX MLB All-Star Game	11 mil	6.9	12
4	CBS	NCIS (R)	8 mil	5.8	10
5	CBS	60 Minutes	8.7 mil	5.6	11
6	FOX	FOX MLB All-Star Game (Pregame)	8.2 mil	5.2	10
7	ABC	The Bachelorette	8.1 mil	5.4	9
8	CBS	NCIS: Los Angeles (R)	7.5 mil	4.9	8
9	CBS	CSI (R)	7.4 mil	4.8	8
10	CBS	Big Brother 13 (Wed)	7.3 mil	4.4	8
11	NBC	America’s Got Talent (R)	7.2 mil	4.4	8
12	CBS	Big Brother 13 (Sun)	6.9 mil	4.1	7
13	CBS	Criminal Minds (R)	6.6 mil	4.3	7
14	CBS	Big Brother 13 (Thurs)	6.6 mil	4.0	7
15	ABC	Wipeout (Thurs)	6.5 mil	3.7	7
16	CBS	The Mentalist (R)	6.4 mil	4.0	7
17	CBS	CSI: NY (R)	6.3 mil	4.1	8
18	CBS	The Big Bang Theory(R)	6.3 mil	4.1	8
19	CBS	Blue Bloods (R)	6.3 mil	4.0	8
20	NBC	America’s Got Talent (R)	6.1 mil	3.9	7
Nielsen Ratings (rounded to nearest 100,000)

 

Cable TV Ratings: Week Ending July 17, 2011

Time	Network	Show	#Viewers
1	ESPN	Japan/USA Women’s Soccer	13.4 mil
2	HIST	Pawn Stars	7.5 mil
3	TNT	The Closer	7.2 mil
4	HIST	American Restoration	6.7 mil
5	ESPN	2011 HOME RUN DERBY	6.6 mil
6	TNT	Rizzoli & Isles	6.3 mil
7	HIST	American Pickers	6.3 mil
8	ESPN	WORLD CUP LIVE	5.9 mil
9	NICK	SpongeBob	5.7 mil
10	USA	Burn Notice	5.4 mil
11	HBOM	True Blood	5.1 mil
12	USA	Royal Pains	4.9 mil
13	NICK	SpongeBob	4.6 mil
14	TNT	Sprint Cup Racing/Loudon	4.5 mil
15	USA	WWE Entertainment	4.5 mil
16	NICK	SpongeBob	4.4 mil
17	USA	Suits	4.3 mil
18	NICK	SpongeBob	4.3 mil
19	NICK	SpongeBob	4.2 mil
20	USA	Covert Affairs	4.2 mil
Nielsen Ratings (rounded to nearest 100,000)