TNT Scores Once Again From Downtown in Q2

Cable World,  June 30, 2003  

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Byline: SHIRLEY BRADY

Turner claimed a second-quarter victory last week, heralding TNT's first-place standing for the quarter in prime time among total viewers and the 18-to-34, 18-to-49 and 25-to-54 age categories.

The network's dominance, fueled by the NBA playoffs, continued through the week of June 16 to 22, with five of its Law & Order episodes propelling the network to a 2.1 rating for the week.

Turner also said TBS is getting younger demos - with a median viewer age of 37.4 in the second quarter compared with 42.6 in Q2 2002 - and that basic cable nets overall continued to add viewers.

Turner's second-quarter hurrahs were met with bemusement from other cable network research chiefs.

"Every year they declare victory in the second quarter as if it's a miracle," said Lifetime research chief Tim Brooks. "With the NBA they have traditionally won the second quarter, so it's an exception when they don't. They used to win both the second and the fourth quarters because they had NFL in the old days, but they lost that."

Brooks was pleased with Lifetime's performance in the quarter, which ended June 29, and in the month of June. "We're No. 2 in ratings and No. 1 in our principal demos of [women] 18 to 49 and women 25 to 54," he said. "We're not down in women 18 to 49 - we're even with what were very high levels last year."

Besides TNT's NBA Playoffs, other top-rated cable programs for the quarter included the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, and TLC's Trading Spaces.

Other networks saw a lift in the second quarter, including VH1, which grew its total day ratings 100%, and ESPN, which had its most-viewed second quarter in its history for total day, also primarily due to its NBA coverage.

The NBA also gave a lift to broadcast, as MTV Networks research chief Betsy Frank noted. "ABC rode the playoffs to people 18 to 34 and people 18 to 49 prime gains over a year ago, with men making up the bulk of those gains," she said. "NBC, which hosted the games last year, was off considerably among men."

June has also been good to cable. The return of Monk on USA (June 20) nabbed a 4.1 rating and the highest season-two premiere in cable history. Last week's BET Awards were the top-rated telecast in the network's history, while HGTV had its highest Thursday night rating ever on June 19 (1.27) and Cartoon Network nabbed its highest ever 18-to-34 audience during its Adult Swim block on June 17.

THE NEXT QUESTION:

* Will the declining ratings throughout June for broadcast networks' reality series also boost cable?

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