[opendtv] News: Cable's Hot Summer

http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/23/cable-turner-summer-biz-media-cx_lr_0823bizcable.html?partner=media_newsletter
Media
Cable's Hot Summer
Lacey Rose, 08.23.07, 12:45 AM ET
Once a time for vacations and swimming pools, the summer months are now prime time for original television. Make that, original cable television.
That was the message from Turner Broadcasting's chief research officer, Jack Wakshlag, at Turner's summer press briefing Wednesday. His data, originally supplied by Nielsen Media Research, proves the case: Basic cable is having a "precedent-setting" summer.
For years, cable has been grabbing eyeballs neglected by the repeat-heavy broadcast networks during the summer. But with a growing cadre of quality original series on cable, this season has proved particularly noteworthy. For the first time, basic cable will double the prime-time viewership of the six major broadcast television networks for the coveted 18- to 49-year-old demographic, Wakshlag said.
Wakshlag has a handful of explanations for the rise in summertime viewing. The growth in the number of air-conditioned homes, which has made indoor TV viewing bearable regardless of the temperature outside, is among them. And so is the boost in quality, which he believes the nets have pursued, and achieved, in recent summers.
Among the shows driving basic cable's success: Lifetime's Army Wives, USA's Burn Notice, FX's Damages and TNT's Saving Grace and The Closer. The latter, starring Kyra Sedgwick, is the No. 1 basic cable series of all time, with an average audience of 4.8 million for its combined three seasons.
When it comes to prime-time delivery, USA is the proven summer leader both in key demographics and total viewers. In total day, Nickelodeon is tops in total viewers, while TNT ranks No. 1 for adults 18 to 49 and 25 to 54, and Adult Swim leads in adults 18 to 34.
But while ad-supported cable continues to soar, the broadcast nets haven't fared so well. The latter have been seeing double-digit declines in viewers, according to Wakshlag. The six networks--CBS (nyse: CBS - news - people ), General Electric's (nyse: GE - news - people ) NBC, Disney's (nyse: DIS - news - people ) ABC, News Corp.'s (nyse: NWS - news - people ) Fox and MyNetworkTV, and Time Warner's (nyse: TWX - news - people ) CW--have collectively lost 1.8 million households, or 11%, year-over-year, even after including time-shifted viewing.
To put that in perspective, he says it's as if the entire Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., market, the 12th largest, stopped watching broadcast TV. And that decline swells to 14% when you consider adults 18 to 49. 



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