Cable Networks Keep Gaining on Broadcast

Cable networks have been gaining on the broadcast nets in terms of overall viewership for years. When reality TV made a big splash several years ago, the cable networks even passed The Big Four for primetime viewership. The latest chapter in the story comes from the growth of the cable network audience since the writers' strike. The strike sent people to cable and since most cable networks don't have much content, they just replay their core programs endlessly -- an advantage to a viewer who tunes in late and wants to catch up. (That's one of The Baroness' classic moves with Top Chef.)

What's interesting here is that the broadcast networks still let the cable nets own the summer. Granted, the cable networks do not need the kinds of ratings to justify what they charge (like the broadcast nets), but how can broadcast just cede the summer season? In the last few years, cable has had great success with new summer shows and the broadcast folks are getting left behind. People watch more TV now than they did a decade ago, and they want something new and compelling. A summer full of reruns is not cutting it.