Cable and Network TV Hit Hard During the Pandemic
by EG
The coronavirus pandemic may have shifted the movie theater business forever, as Americans increasingly decide that they'd rather stay home to watch movies. A similar shift is happening in the traditional TV space, and it doesn't have to do solely with the pandemic. Ratings for network and cable TV programming were already on an overall downward trajectory, but the ratings went over a cliff in 2020. Some networks lost as much as a quarter of their audience during the year. Read on for details.
When the first set of widespread pandemic stay-at-home orders came down in March, TV usage soared across the board. Several network series, including NBC's Chicago shows and ABC's Grey's Anatomy, drew their largest audiences in months, even years, even as streaming was also climbing.
It didn't last. TV usage came down to its usual level within a couple of months, meaning the temporary ratings gains of March and April couldn't reverse larger, systemic declines on ad-supported networks. As the pandemic caused production delays on scores of shows destined for spring and summer, a dwindling inventory of shows on traditional networks further depressed viewing.
As the year draws to a close, that leaves much of traditional TV in a sizable hole. The Big Four broadcast networks all fell at least 10 percent in total viewers and 12 percent or more in the key ad-sales demographic of adults 18-49 from 2019 to 2020. The CW bled 25 percent of its total audience and 40 percent in the 18-49 demo.
Cable channels aren't faring any better. Excluding news channels — which were up year to year — 69 cable nets averaged at least 100,000 viewers in primetime in 2020. Only 20 maintained or grew their audience from 2019; on average primetime viewership declined by 10 percent, and 30 fell by more than that.
In the 18-49 demo, 57 cable channels (again excluding news channels) averaged 50,000 or better viewers for the year. Just two, TLC and Pop TV, improved over 2019. Pop's gains were built on the final season of Schitt's Creek, but it's currently without a single original series following the cancellation of One Day at a Time and the purging of three other shows (Flack, Florida Girls and the unaired Best Intentions) by parent company ViacomCBS.
Those 57 channels lost an average of 18 percent of their primetime 18-49 audiences, falling from an average of 218,000 viewers in that age group last year to 179,000 this year. Almost three-quarters, 42 of 57, dropped by 10 percent or more.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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