Cable Stands Up to the Games
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 2/20/2002 1:00:00 PM
High-profile cable programming held its own in primetime against NBC's presentation of the Olympic Games last week.
TNN: The National Network's coverage of World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. fare, Lifetime Television's Sunday-night dramas, a Nickelodeon telefilm based on its Rocket Power series and USA Network's presentation of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show all generated significant ratings during the week spanning Feb. 11 through 17.
WWF action pinned a 4.6 household average Feb. 11 from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., while the preceding hour's 4.2 average was the second-highest-rated basic-cable show of the week, according to a Turner Entertainment Research analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.
Race Across New Zealand, the film based on Nick series Rocket Power, averaged a 3.6 household rating from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Feb. 16.
Lifetime's Feb. 17 installment of The Division tied the Nick flick for third for the week. That performance marked the highest-ever household rating for a Lifetime original series.
USA's second night of the Westminster Dog Show scratched out a 3.5 average Feb. 12, good for fifth place for the week, while its coverage the night before ranked ninth with a 3.3.
That was matched by Lifetime's Strong Medicine (the skein's highest-rated episode of the season) Feb. 17, while MTV: Music Television's Real World XI installment Feb. 12 produced a 3.2 household rating.
On a network basis, Lifetime's strength Sunday night helped it to capture the primetime crown for the week with a 2.2 household average, ahead of USA's 2.0. Nick and Turner Network Television were tied for third at a 1.7, besting the 1.6 registered by both Cartoon Network and TBS Superstation.
Rounding out the top 10: A&E Network and Fox News Channel at a 1.1; Discovery Channel with a 1.0; and TNN at a 0.9.
On a total-day basis, Nickelodeon was first with a 1.5 average, followed by Lifetime (1.3), Cartoon (1.1), TBS and TNT (both with 1.0).
As for adult demos, TBS was first among the 18-through-34 set, averaging 523,000 of those viewers for the week, according to the Turner analysis.
USA, aided by its Dog Show airings, led the way among adults 18 through 49 and 25 through 54 with 1.13 million and 1.27 million of those watchers, respectively.
The Learning Channel's Trading Spaces special Feb. 16 and 17 played big across all three adult demo groups, while TBS' coverage of the Feb. 12 National Basketball Association game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Michael Jordan's Washington Wizards dunked the network's best numbers among adults 18 through 34 (1.04 million) and 18 through 49 (1.87 million) for a late (10:30 p.m. EST) NBA game in three years.
That mark was extended to six years among the older adult set (1.72 million).
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