Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504220012
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FREDERIC M. BIDDLE THE BOSTON GLOBE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It was ABC's first win in 15 years - but rarely has the matter of which network won a television season said as little about how much the medium has changed, or about where it's headed.
Foremost, the viewer was prime-time's biggest winner. Nothing supports the point as eloquently as a comparison of the ten most popular shows of this season versus those of a decade ago. The time warp is a quality warp.
Today's Nielsens aren't yet a meritocracy, as the poor ratings of superior shows like ``Homicide'' and ``My So-Called Life'' attest. Yet suds and worse ruled network primetime in 1984-85, whereas the sophistication of this year's top shows - ``ER,'' ``Friends,'' ``Frasier,'' ``NYPD Blue,'' ``Grace Under Fire'' and ``Seinfeld'' - reflect pressure on all four networks to appeal intelligently and narrowly to baby-boomer audiences that are changing their watching habits and are already distracted by cable television.
The season rankings prove it. Trailing ABC in ranking were NBC, CBS and Fox, respectively. Yet the four networks were, collectively, losers. Just 65 percent of the nation's 95.4 million TV households tuned them in during primetime, on average, versus 69 percent last year. Excluding Fox, which began its rivals' undoing when it went on the air a decade ago, Big Three primetime viewership slid to 57 percent, its lowest ever. This is significant because network viewership had held steady against cable last year, silencing predictions that their days might be numbered.
But this year, the Big Three lost 2.2 million homes, and basic cable channels gained 1.6 million. More than a third of TV households preferred cable, which was boosted by the O.J. Simpson Trial, the networks' loss of Major League Baseball playoffs and the World Series, and their lack of a blockbuster exclusive like last year's Winter Olympics.
Ironically, the resumption of the big channel-surf away from the broadcast networks was begun by CBS, which ended last season in first-place, but ended this season in third-place overall, without the benefit of the Winter Olympics. CBS's aging shows appealed to aging audiences, leaving the network in last place behind Fox in viewership among the under-50 audiences advertisers care most about.
NBC, although barely closer to ABC than to CBS in overall ratings, established itself as the network with the most momentum entering next season. It proved through a brilliant prime-time schedule that included ``ER,'' ``Friends,'' and ``Seinfeld'' - the season's top show - that despite cable television only a traditional broadcast network can still grip upwards of 40 million viewers throughout a whole evening of non-news television.
Advertisers are impressed: upfront sales for next season on all four networks are up 20 percent over a year ago.
Fox, although still a distant fourth overall, gained by far the most viewership in overall households and among younger fans. That's thanks to series like ``The X-Files,'' which gained more viewers (44 percent) in its second season than any other prime-time show.
Fox still programs only 15 of 22 prime-time hours each week; the 10-11 p.m. slot is vacant. But the network's ratings momentum, abetted by its aggressive deployment of new TV stations and NFC football - all stolen from CBS in separate bidding wars led by Rupert Murdoch, who controls Fox - suggest that his network won't be the fourth-rated for many more seasons.
For the 1994-95 season that began Sept. 19, ABC averaged 12.1 percent of TV households, NBC 11.6 percent, CBS 11.2 percent (vs. 14 percent last season) and Fox 7.7 percent (vs. 7.2 percent last season). Among 18-49 year-old viewers, ABC averaged 7.3 percent, NBC 6.9 percent, Fox 5.5 percent and CBS 5.3 percent.
by CNB