Comments on: Fox Sweeps Final Annual Network Ratings, 2007-8

By: B. S. Davis

B. S. Davis — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:37:17 +0000

Wonderful! Hey Fox! You won the cable news business by being fair and balanced – how about leaving them in the dust by creating a cable channel dedicated to serving conservatives? That would include news and other broadcasting that is UNfair and NOT balanced, but something that is dedicated to the viewing needs of those who identfiy themeselves as conservatives.

One would think that with the success of Fox News there would be people who would look to serve the needs of those who watch Fox with entertainment tailored to their specific needs. What happened is that the kool aid drinkers in the “traditional” big three networks just don’t get it, which leaves the field wide open for an enterprising company (like Fox), which wants to make lots of money. So how about it? If there’s a channel dedicated to golf, for crying out loud, can’t there be one for the millions of people out there who listen to talk radio?

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:21:25 +0000

clutz, you could really go through that exercise with any of the networks, I agree.

I wish I knew if that “top heavy”ness was a recent phenomena or had existed for quite some time, but we don’t have the data ourselves to figure that out.

By: clutz12001

clutz12001 — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:05:13 +0000

Shane and Bill,

If you minus Survivor, could not the same be said about CBS? The CSI’s would do the same. In any case, these top two Nielsen powerhouses are both relying on less than a handful of their programming to be where they are.

By: Holly

Holly — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:59:03 +0000

I meant the viewership by rank, but that’s OK. No need to do a bunch of extra work just to satisfy my couriosity. If I decide I really care, I’ll do it myself.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:35:16 +0000

Holly, if you meant the network weekly season to date chart, they are all here: http://tvbythenumbers.com/category/nielsen-network-tv-ratings-season-to-date

If you meant the “STD Viewership By Show Rank”, sorry but its too much work!

By: Holly

Holly — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:05:28 +0000

Bill,
Not to be pushy or demanding, but could you make one of those charts just after the November sweeps? The one made in April would have included a lot of reruns, which could skew things. I just curious how it would look with only original episodes counted and the nets don’t usually start many reruns until December.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:44:17 +0000

Shane, any network is going to suffer if you remove multiple hours of its top show.

As for “Fox is all Idol” (look at point 2 in this post for the chart)

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/04/18/the-15-hour-advantage-what-does-fox-gain/3379

Fox’s top 3 shows (Fox, Idol x2) do account for more of its viewers than the others, but ABC isn’t *that* far behind, you could claim “ABC is all Dancing With The Stars” and be almost as correct.

Likewise, take away those 3 CSI hours and CBS is in a world of hurt.

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:23:27 +0000

If you minus American Idol, FOX would not be #1 in ANY category, I’m pretty sure. FOX is still struggling when it comes to remaining competitive on the scripted circuit. CBS is still in a great position to retain #1 this year in total households, especially if their shows perform extremely well, which they have been already.

I think the REAL verdict is FOX was the winner with a big, fat *. The abbreviated season depleted CBS, NBC, and ABC of scripted series, not allowing them to properly compete against reality-horse FOX.