The Game Show Forum > Game Show Channels & Networks

GSN ratings?

(1/4) > >>

1978-Jeopardy:
I'm just curious, where can I find GSN's ratings? I want to see if they have fallen or risen since the changeover.

CaseyAbell:
The free sources of cable ratings on the web are quite limited, compared to the broadcast networks. The best source I've found is MediaLifeMagazine's weekly roundup. The latest:

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/news2004/...5wednesday.html

As you can see, the first week of new shows didn't launch GSN into the top 25 ad-supported cablers. But I doubt anybody expected that. The old CableWorld site used to publish the prime time numbers for the top 40 basic cable networks, and GSN usually ranked about 35 or below. I put those numbers on this site in an old post that should still be in the search cache.

Odd note: CBS's annual decision to scrap its huge Thursday lineup in favor of low-rated hoops may have given GSN, along with many other cablers, a boost on March 18. So maybe even Kenny vs. Spenny benefitted a little.

From Variety and MultiChannel stories on big losers and gainers in cabledom, GSN scored an average 0.6 prime time universe rating for January and February, with about 300K households each month. Very good numbers by GSN standards, though the demos continue to skew old, female and lower-income. (You don't see all those ads for arthritis drugs, tampons, and credit counseling services by accident.)

Don't know if GSN will show up in those stories for March. I'll keep looking.

clemon79:
[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Mar 29 2004, 07:16 AM\'] Odd note: CBS's annual decision to scrap its huge Thursday lineup in favor of low-rated hoops may have given GSN, along with many other cablers, a boost on March 18. So maybe even Kenny vs. Spenny benefitted a little.
 [/quote]
 Those "low-rated" hoops now are merely a means to an end. I'd say "settling for" a 7.2/13 on Thursday night is a small price to pay for the 15/20 they're gonna pull a week from tonight.

On top of that, for a network that relies so heavily on college sports to flesh out their sports package (remember, they run the College World Series as well in conjunction with ESPN, in addition to their extensive college football coverage), the goodwill that CBS's continued support of the Dance harbors from the NCAA is more than worth whatever ratings hit they might take.

SRIV94:
[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 29 2004, 10:25 AM\'] On top of that, for a network that relies so heavily on college sports to flesh out their sports package (remember, they run the College World Series as well in conjunction with ESPN, in addition to their extensive college football coverage), the goodwill that CBS's continued support of the Dance harbors from the NCAA is more than worth whatever ratings hit they might take. [/quote]
 Actually, ESPN/ESPN2 now has exclusive TV rights to the College World Series (money as always is an issue, but another possible factor might be the decision to reformat the championship to a "best of three," effective with last year's tourney).  Other than CBS' SEC football package, the Army-Navy game, the Sun Bowl and a few seasonal highlight packages (maybe a couple of gymnastics things as well), the bulk of CBS' NCAA involvement is their hoops investment.  CBS doesn't really recoup much on LSU's split national title other than being the network that carried many of their regular season games, with ABC having carried LSU's Sugar Bowl game vs. Oklahoma (and ABC still has at least two more B[C]S seasons to go).

Doug

CaseyAbell:
It's a big ratings hit. CBS lost 13 million viewers from March 11 to March 18. Does that hit translate into increased viewership for the final? Hard to say. The final's ratings have declined over the years, even with prime time coverage of the early-round games. Last year the final hit bottom with a twelve, in a year that was admittedly scrambled by war coverage. The NCAA's own newsletter pointed to the problem:

1998 17.6
1999 17.2
2000 14.1
2001 15.6
2002 15.0
2003 12.6

This year the final may perk back up to a fifteen or so, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at in the new teevee universe. But would the rebound (sorry) have occurred anyway, without the two big hits CBS took on March 18 and March 25?

Many early-round playoff games for baseball, the NBA and the NHL have long since migrated to cable. Wouldn't be surprised to see the early Thursday-Friday rounds of NCAA hoops eventually wind up there, too.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page