Top-Rated Summer Cable Shows Fall to Time-Shifted Broadcast TV

By Karla Robinson
October 11, 2012

A new report from TVB, the non-profit trade association of the U.S. commercial broadcast television industry, shows that cable’s original series summer releases were not watched as much as reruns on broadcast television networks.
“In a comparison of the Top 50 summer cable originals versus summer repeats on broadcast TV, repeat programming on broadcast television occupied the majority of the Top 100-ranked programs,” reports TV Technology. “Cable originals landed one position in the Top 100 and 32 in the Top 500.”
“Among its findings, the report indicates that the time-shifted portion of broadcast television’s same-day Top 20 fall premieres outpaced the total audience, both live and same day, of the majority of cable’s highest-rated original summer programming,” the article continues. “This indicates a reversal of the last several years’ trend in 2012.”
Advertising-supported cable saw year-over-year decreases in primetime daypart from both the summer and regular season of 2011/12. Also, cable’s major programmers with returning series had declines in performance.
“Understanding where viewership happens is a critical consideration toward determining the success or failure of an overall marketing plan, and that viewership is definitively and materially biased toward broadcast television,” says TVB president and CEO Steve Lanzano.

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