January National TV Numbers Hold Up Despite Ratings Falls

The slight loss in revenue is noteworthy since primetime ratings continue to register significant yearoveryear ratings declines This is a strong indication that despite all the media choices available national television remains a powerhouse for national advertisers even with continued audience erosion Viewability and fraud issues on digital are still causing major concerns for leading marketers and we expect to see TV hold up for some time given these challenges Several networks including CBS Hallmark and Univision bucked the trend and delivered strong performance in JanuaryAmong the bright spots were postseason ratings for the NFL which averaged 339 million viewers similar to last January39s 10 games Coming from a position of strength regular season ratings were up 5 percent there is the expectation the NFL will open up negotiations for broadcast TV rights later this year looking for significant rate gains of up to 30 percent The current broadcast TV contract expires in 2022Broadcast TV by NetworkSMI39s numbers show that in January the gross ad revenue for total day on CBS grew by 18 percent This was by far the largest increase among the broadcast and cable networks The underlying reason for this growth was moving The Grammy Awards from February in previous years to January this year to avoid conflict with ABC39s Oscars telecast Despite advertisers paying a premium for the Grammys the telecast has followed other premiere awards shows delivering its lowest audience in 12 yearsWith a strong regularly scheduled programming lineup and standing as the mostwatched network CBS also had the highest ad revenue in entertainment primetime programs Helping to boost gross ad revenue was the NFL postseason In January 2020 CBS televised four NFL playoff games amp8212 more than any other network amp8212 and one more than it broadcast in January 2019 In February 2020 expect a sizeable yeartoyear falloff in gross ad revenue not only did CBS televise the Grammys in February 2019 but also Super Bowl LIIILooking at January 2020 Fox ranked a distant second in gross ad revenue among the broadcast networks in total day edging out NBC However Fox39s total day gross revenues actually fell by 4 percent yearoveryear Similar to last year NBC aired two postseason NFL games and The Golden Globes while the NFL ratings held up The Golden Globes hit an eightyear rating low In primetime entertainment NBC39s gross ad revenue declined by 6 percentOne reason for Fox39s decline was that the network had televised three NFL postseason games in January 2020 compared to four in January 2019 February 2020 will show a significant boost in gross ad revenue for Fox due to Super Bowl LIV The network however reported a much sharper yearoveryear decline of 31 percent in gross ad revenue with primetime entertainment programs This is a signal that Fox after selling assets to Disney will be relying more on live sports and other program types than entertainmentABC ranked fourth with gross ad revenue in January 2020 for total day with a decrease of 7 percent from January 2019 The network took in less than half the revenue that CBS had earned for the month In primetime entertainment ABC ranked third ahead of Fox but still had a yearoveryear decline of nearly 12 percent Despite the decline ABC did have one of the most eventful specials of the month a primetime airing of the fournight Jeopardy Greatest of AllTime Tournament The special was a hit becoming the toprated adult 18amp821149 show each night it airedFocusing in on the two most popular Spanish language networks Univision joined CBS and NBC in increasing yeartoyear gross ad revenue for total day in January 2020 while Telemundo declined Univision benefitted from strong doubledigit yearoveryear audience gains in primetime In January 2020 Univision had garnered more than twice the gross ad revenue than TelemundoCable NetworksEach January ESPN televises a number of college bowl games culminating with cable39s toprated program the College Football Playoff National Championship This year39s game LSU versus Clemson averaged 256 million viewers a 1 percent increase from last year ESPN39s gross ad revenue jumped 4 percent over last January Additionally for the month ESPN accounted for 13 percent of total cable gross ad revenue and had higher gross ad revenue than its broadcast partner ABCWith its affinity for holidaythemed movies The Hallmark Channel has emerged as one of the toprated entertainment programs on cable television Gross ad revenue reported a yearoveryear increase of 10 percent in January 2020 Conversely USA Network which was the toprated cable network for years has suffered a significant falloff in ratings in recent years USA reported a yearoveryear gross ad revenue decrease of 24 percent With the launch of Peacock in a few months the question to ask is how much programming investment will be given to USA to keep the library content strongClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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January National TV Numbers Hold Up Despite Ratings Falls

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James Fennessy

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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January National TV Numbers Hold Up Despite Ratings Falls

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James Fennessy

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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