TBS Scores Weekly Primetime Ratings Three-peat

By R. Thomas Umstead
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

TBS scored its third consecutive cable primetime ratings win on the strength of its “March Madness” college basketball coverage.

TBS averaged 2.3 million viewers to top all cable networks during the week of April 2 to April 8, said Nielsen. Aiding TBS’s win was its live coverage of the April 2 Villanova-Michigan NCAA men’s college basketball tournament final game, which drew more than 13.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Fox News Channel was second with 2 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1.7 million viewers), HGTV (1.5 million) and USA (1.2 million), said the network.

Fox News was the top choice among viewers on a total day basis for the 13 consecutive week. The news network averaged 1.2 million viewers, besting MSNBC (943,000 viewers), Nickelodeon (850,000), HGTV (828,000) and Investigation Discovery (730,000). 

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.