via press release:
SCIENCE CHANNEL ROCKETS OUT OF THE GATE FOR JANUARY 2010
- Science Channel, the only television network dedicated entirely to the wonders of science, started 2010 by delivering double digit gains across households and key demos. Shows fueling that growth are new series Meteorite Men, How It’s Made, Mantracker, Factory Made
- Science registered slight-to-double digit gains in Prime & Total Day (6a-6a) in Jan’10 vs. Jan’09 among HH, P2+, P/M/W 25-54 and P/M/W 18-49 delivery.
- Science experienced its best Month ever this January in Total Day (6a-6a) among M25-54, P18-49 and M18-49 delivery (49,000, 67,000 and 46,000 respectively).
- Science experienced its best Week ever (1/25/10-1/31/10) in Total Day (6a-6a) among HH (132k), P25-54 (92k), M25-54 (61k), P18-49 (87k) and M18-49 (58k) delivery.
Interesting; do we know how PBS program ratings compare to this, particularly the science and history programs (Nova, Nature, The History Detectives, etc.) versus the arts and drama series like Masterpiece, American Masters, or Great Performances? Given the nature of public television, it may be fairer to compare its ratings to that of dramas on premium cable, i.e., HBO or Showtime, but certainly a comparison of PBS shows to programs on Science Channel, Discovery Channel, Ovation, and History Channel is in order.
It’s intriguing to consider just how much of cable programming owes its audience to public television shows. Without a few decades of This Old House and its spin-offs, there would be no HGTV, no home repair/house-flipping or real-estate shows or home design shows. Without Great Performances or Live At The Met, there would be no operas on Ovation. Without PBS documentaries by Rick Burns and history shows narrated by David McCullough, there would be no History Channel, A&E Biography, or Military Channel. And without years of Nova, Cosmos, Nature, and all those other science, medical, and natural history shows on PBS, there would be no Discovery Channel, no health channels, and no Science Channel. All these cable networks and their shows owe their origins and audiences to a viewership created and nurtured over the decades by public television.
Time to give credit where credit is due — to PBS, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — and perhaps to compare their ratings head to head on similar programming. Not that PBS should ever be driven by ratings instead of creative ideas or viewer needs; it shouldn’t, but the comparison with similar cable shows might be informative for both viewers and cable network programmers.
[You'll notice that I didn't include in this discussion either Bravo or A&E, both of which began as arts channels but have gone in completely the opposite direction over the last dozen years, namely shilling reality shows that range from the sublime (Bill Kurtis's true crime shows) to the ridiculous (Hoarders, Paranormal Cops, Steven Seagal Lawman); the only quality drama that remains on A&E, for example, would be the occasional early-morning or late-night reruns of Third Watch or The West Wing.]
How It’s Made is a really fascinating show and I’m glad it’s doing well.
PBS has been unrated in the past, but there was a story recently about them signing up for the weekly Nielsen ratings service, so we may start seeing their ratings sometime soon. Although, since we don’t pay for the ratings *we* may not.
I’m not surprised by this at all. THe others, History, Discovery, Learning have all turned into “me too” reality networks. With all of the ridiculous lumberjack/truckdriver/fisherman/dwarf/chopper builder/etc drama they pump out I can’t even turn them on. There is nothing interesting in that stuff past the first episode. There is nothing to learn from it other than the all-too-well-known fact that the presence of cameras alters the behavior of the subjects.
It is lazy on the part of the networks to offer this idiotic stuff on channels like this. There is no research needed, there is effort to increase the knowledge base of the public. I keep praying it will change but as those networks turn to drawing in the cheeto eatingredneck nascar crowd they will be rewarded with an audience that will lap up any pointless garbage they offer – as long as it has yelling, loud engines, barely literate bearded toothless stars and Mike Rowe narrating.
PBS is the last fortress of quality programming. Hopefully the Science channel will prove equally commited to the cause.
I watch the Science Channel all the time, especially since the History Channel turned into the 2012 Panic Channel, but Mantracker does not belong on Science. I’d have expected it from Spike, not Science.
How it’s made is a awesome show. Now, if we can only get them to show how things that people actually care about are made instead of the Canadian crap nobody in the US market ever sees (silver miniatures, chirping bird boxes, goalie gloves, ect).