Networks Lose Ground

Even the Winter Olympics and the highest-rated World Series in years couldn’t stem the tide of erosion besetting the major television networks, which continued to lose audience during the just-concluded 2001-02 television season, with roughly 1.5 million viewers turning to other prime-time options.

Overall viewing of the four major networks averaged just fewer than 45 million people at any given moment in prime time for the season, which began in late September, delayed by the events of Sept. 11, and officially concluded Wednesday, along with the four-week May rating sweeps. That represents a 3% drop compared with the previous year.

At the same time, cable continued to expand its share of the audience, with advertiser-supported cable channels exceeding network viewing during April, the first time that’s happened within the official TV season. For the year, broadcast networks (including the smaller WB, UPN and Pax networks) totaled roughly a 50 audience share in prime time, compared with an aggregate 46 share for basic cable, a gap that has steadily narrowed.

Part of that has to do with sheer tonnage, as digital cable and satellite dishes have raised the number of channels per average home to nearly 90, but cable networks also scored coups with original series, from MTV’s “The Osbournes” to Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” to FX’s “The Shield.”

Tim Brooks, senior vice president of research for Lifetime Television, said that although top network programs are still thriving, shows without a solid following are increasingly vulnerable: “Their strength is in those few very high-profile appointment shows. Those withstand almost anything.”

NBC had more of those franchises than anyone else, riding the Winter Olympics and venerable stalwarts such as “Friends” (which soared this season, culminating with the show’s second-largest audience ever, for the birth of Rachel’s baby this month) and “Law & Order” to a decisive prime-time victory--the third network to finish on top in as many years.

The network also scored clear-cut wins in the late-night and early-morning races thanks to “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” and “Today.” NBC’s nightly news also led in that department, as all three network newscasts bucked the erosion trend, averaging more than 30 million viewers nightly, despite talk of their diminished importance in a world with multiple all-news channels.

Buoyed by the Olympics as well as the core strength of its schedule, NBC averaged 13.5 million viewers at any given moment in prime time, a 17% increase over last season. CBS was a competitive second at 12.3 million viewers, posting a modest decline, while ABC sank more than 20% from year-ago levels--the steepest year-to-year decrease in network history--to 9.7 million. Fox averaged 9.2 million viewers, its programming woes masked by such highly rated events as the Super Bowl.

Beyond highlighting the topsy-turvy nature of the current TV landscape--which saw “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” put ABC in first place two seasons ago and “Survivor” help CBS outplay the competition last year--the season also demonstrated the viewing public’s resilience.

Few of the programming trends widely discussed in the wake of last fall’s terrorist attacks resulted in a fundamental shift in audience tastes. There was a hunger for what came to be dubbed “comfort food,” reflected in higher ratings for established programs, and resistance to many so-called “reality” shows, which seemed contrived and inconsequential set alongside images of Sept. 11.

Yet by the time the season ended, viewers were drifting back to their usual patterns. That included solid ratings for such unscripted series as NBC’s “Fear Factor” and ABC’s “The Bachelor.” Moreover, all three spy shows ordered before the attacks and introduced in their wake--Fox’s “24,” ABC’s “Alias” and CBS’ “The Agency”--fared well enough to be renewed for a second year, after concern inside the networks that the subject matter might unsettle viewers.

All told, it was a season of highs--mostly for NBC and CBS--and lows for ABC and, to a lesser extent, Fox. ABC’s fortunes plummeted along with ratings for “Millionaire,” and Fox’s signature franchises, “The X-Files” and “Ally McBeal,” faded fast. In a telling statistic, while both NBC and CBS recorded gains in terms of regularly scheduled programs--excluding sports and specials--ABC and Fox fell by 23% and 18%, respectively. CBS’ assault was led by “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” which finished ahead of “ER” in total viewing, the first drama to do so since the NBC show premiered in 1994.

The clearest evidence of ABC’s rating woes may be that its most-watched show other than “Monday Night Football,” “The Practice,” ranked 25th among prime-time series and saw its audience drop more than 30% with “Alias” replacing “Millionaire” in the hour preceding it.

David Poltrack, CBS’ executive vice president of research, called the net loss for the major broadcasters “a case of two networks having a very good year and two networks having a very bad year.”

NBC’s dominance among the networks was commanding among adults age 18 to 49, the key demographic to advertisers, which want to reach younger viewers with families and hook them on their brands for life. CBS, which has long possessed an older audience profile, capitalized on the other networks’ misfires to move into second place, leaving ABC fourth by that measure.

NBC also capped its year by winning the May rating sweeps, a period stations rely on to set local advertising rates. Most significant, the 10 p.m. dramas “ER,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Crossing Jordan” gave the network a vast lead during the last half-hour of prime time, funneling viewers directly into affiliate newscasts.