Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente is praising the strength of the CBS schedule two week’s into the new TV season. As reported, CBS won the 2nd week in both 18-49 and Household ratings after winning Week 1 in HH and finishing 2nd to Fox in 18-49.
“In just the 2nd week of the TV season, CBS has already started to distance itself from its peers, earning a sweeping victory across all the major demographics. In 18-49, CBS posted a 2.6 rating and 7.1 share, ahead of NBC (2.3 rating/ 6.3 share), Fox (2.3 rating/ 6.2 share), and ABC (2.0 rating/ 5.5 share). Two and a Half Men (7.4 rating/ 17 share) predictably eased of its monster premiere numbers from last week, but still impressed with a 2nd place finish in the 18-49 rankings, even beating out ESPN’s Monday Night Football (7.2 rating/ 18 share). Also on Monday night, the premiere of Mike and Molly (4.8 rating/ 11 share) debuted to solid results in 6th place, while 2 Broke Girls (4.6 rating/ 12 share) and How I Met Your Mother (4.5 rating/ 12 share) finished right behind in 7th and 8th place, respectively. Overall, CBS had 6 shows in the top 10 and 12 in the top 25, demonstrating the early strength of its primetime schedule,” DiClemente said in assessing the Nielsen numbers for the Eye Network.
DiClemente is disappointed by Dancing, however.
“Typically one of TV’s highest rated shows, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars has been slow out of the blocks this year. Monday night’s episode [9/26] drew a 3.3 rating and 8 share in 21st place, down 31% from last year’s comparable episode, which earned a 4.8 rating and 12 share in 5th place. Offsetting some of the weakness, Modern Family has performed well so far, most recently earning a 5.7 rating and 15 share, which is actually up 24% from last year. Lastly, the premiere of Suburgatory was well received with a 3.3 rating and 9 share in 21st place,” the analyst wrote of Disney’s ABC.
On the cable side, DiClemente noted improvement by Time Warner’s TBS.
“After weeks of sustained declines, TBS ratings were up 13% for the week-ended October 2nd. The network benefited primarily from carriage of the MLB divisional series playoffs, as Friday night’s contest between Detroit and New York drew an impressive 5.5M viewers in primetime. Syndicated episodes of The Big Bang Theory likely drove total day viewership as well, and should help improve ratings going forward. Elsewhere at TWX, Adult Swim was up 12%, finishing the 3Q with 9% growth. Cable news network CNN was up 7% in the week, and finished with 29% growth in the 3Q – tops for any TWX cable net,” he wrote.
But News Corporation is still the cable growth leader.
“Despite broader ratings declines across the industry in 3Q, NWSA total company ratings were up almost 10%, as FX (+12% Y/Y) continued its positive momentum with a strong base of originals, including Sons of Anarchy and Rescue Me. Nat Geo had the largest turnaround in the 3Q, posting 15% growth after a decline of 8% in 2Q. Lastly, Fox News ratings grew by 4% in the quarter, aided by coverage of a contentious political environment,” DiClemente said in his latest analysis of cable and broadcast television.
