December Cable Ratings: Sober into '16

Cable TV ratings declines continued as we exited 2015 with Nielsen39s monthly live viewership data for December indicating that industry ratings were down 9 and 10 YoY in total day and primetime viewership respectively By contrast QTD C3 viewership declines at the broadcast networks are more modest at 3 YoY Given the encouraging tone on the state of ad market demand offered by ad agency buyers and strong datapoints from Standard Media Index SMI we still contend that improving TV ad demand conditions could support better 4Q ad revenue results but only for those with available inventory to sell Please email us for our dynamic monthly live cable and weekly broadcast C3 ratings databases by network and company Companyspecific highlights include the followingTurner was a bright spot in December realizing its sixth successive month of stabilizing ratings trends This month the performance was yet again fueled by CNN 119 YoY in primetime and ongoing strength at Cartoon Network which recorded primetime viewership growth in 9 of the last 10 months As such despite ongoing ratings declines at TBS and TNT down 3 and 20 YoY respectively aggregate Turner primetime ratings were up 2 YoY up from flat in NovemberAlthough Viacom39s aggregate ratings remained down in December the pace of the primetime declines eased again Programming on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr such as Talia in the Kitchen along with special episodes of Shimmer and Shine and Paw Patrol offset declines at VIAB39s other larger networks While Nickelodeon and Nick Jr returned to growth up 17 and 41 YoY in primetime MTV and Comedy Central seem to face longer turnarounds given their respective management changes and loss of talenthit shows But overall the news was good for Viacom in December as aggregate YoY viewership was down just 8 and 3 YoY in primetime and total day viewership for VIAB39s portfolio of networks a marked improvement from the double digit declines the company has recorded for most of the past yearDisney39s aggregate cable viewership was down in December largely due to sluggish ESPN Monday Night Football ratings in the month This month39s datapoint included ESPN39s two lowest rated MNF games of the season a Detroit Lions win over the New Orleans Saints and the Ravens victory over the Browns As such primetime viewership at ESPN declined by 14 YoY in December still modestly above the 21 YoY drop reported in November Across Disney39s portfolio of networks aggregate viewership was down 16 YoY in both primetime and total dayCLICK BELOW TO ACCESS RESEARCH REPORTPRESENTATION including important disclosuresUS Media December Cable TV Ratings Sober into 3916Prepared by Nomura Securities International Inc For complete details of the research together with the associated important disclosures analyst certification valuation methodology and discussion of risks please see the full publication attachedAdditional information is available upon request and disclosure information is available at the Nomura Disclosure web page httpgonomuranowcomresearchglobalresearchportalpagesdisclosuresdisclosuresaspxThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecom MyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

December Cable Ratings: Sober into '16

Author

Publish date

Channel

Anthony DiClemente

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

More Videos:

Click to Make Your 2025 Contribution to Support the MediaVillage Education Foundation

December Cable Ratings: Sober into '16

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Anthony DiClemente

Empowering Women in Media: Insights from Industry Leaders (Video) - By E.B. Moss

The payment was successful

Cookies