2009 was a hot summer television season. According to The Live Feed (August 26, 2009): "Though you wouldn't know it from following broadcast network ratings, summer TV viewing is at an all-time high." Summer's cable ratings have shined, while the broadcast ratings have languished.
Summer TV Belongs to Cable
Royal Pains is the hit new summer series, helping USA gain 21% in primetime television ratings. A host of USA's shows saw their best ratings ever – Burn Notice, Monk, and In Plain Sight have hit record highs.
TNT's The Closer remains the top-rated cable show, averaging 7 million viewers each week. The cable network has already renewed HawthoRNe for a second season. Leverage has also performed solidly. Raising the Bar and new series, Dark Blue, have had so-so ratings performance. Overall, TNT's ratings are up 8% vs. summer 2008.
AMC's Mad Men had a huge season premiere, up almost 34% from last season's. Subsequent episodes continue to outperform last season's numbers and the show has already been renewed for a fourth season. The network overall is up 4% vs. summer 2008.
SyFy's Warehouse 13 has been a surprise success for the network – the highest-rated original scripted series in its history.
Premium Television Ratings for Premium Cable Networks
HBO and Showtime have both seen greater than 20% increases in primetime television ratings, compared to last summer. And despite the economy, both channels have increased their subscriber bases from a year ago. HBO is riding high on the strength of its hit vampire soap, True Blood. Showtime's newcomer, Nurse Jackie, was the highest-rated premiere in the network's history. Returning hit, Weeds, has also performed better than last season.
Summer Reality TV Boosts Cable Ratings
Project Runway made the switch from Bravo to Lifetime this summer, garnering a huge premiere number and buoying sister show, Models of the Runway. Both look to have staying power. Bravo has moved on from Project Runway, relying on its Real Housewives franchise, which continues to outperform itself in every installment.
Dismal Broadcast Television Ratings
America’s Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance performed solidly, while Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? averaged less than a 2 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic. This has extra sting given that show used to be a powerhouse for ABC. Hell's Kitchen has also performed reliably for FOX. Still, overall, summer broadcast television ratings have been the worst ever, according to Broadcasting & Cable (August 24, 2009). Three times ABC hit the lowest weekly demo rating ever, but all the broadcast channels have done poorly. This may be due to the dearth of new programming in the summertime as broadcast networks repeat fall shows, to little excitement.
Compared to the networks' usual reality shows, it's no wonder that cable ratings have seen such a marked increase. Total TV viewership is up and cable networks have been the biggest winners. Other cable ratings increases vs. summer 2008 include E!, Discovery, Oxygen, History, Science Channel, ABC Family, and FX.
The network strategy of relying on repeats and cheap reality shows in the summer seems to be failing, while cable continues to gain new life with original scripted fare. Cable networks even plan to challenge the broadcasters' dominance by airing original programming in direct competition with the new fall shows. Perhaps it's time for the broadcast networks to make good on their promise of year-round television with quality scripted summer series, not just repeats, reality shows, and fall schedule cast-offs. After all, it's working for cable.
For more data, read Most-watched summer ever and USA Has Biggest Summer in Cable History.
Kimberly Shumway - Kim has worked all over the entertainment industry, from reality networks to film companies, from the agency world to the production ...
