At Newsbusters and on his own BizzyBlog, Tom Blumer writes, “Even Before Summer, Big 3 Nets’ Evening News Viewership Is Under 20 Million”, and at NBC, even their primetime programming is hurting. The Internet Movie Database describes NBC’s ratings as the “Lowest Since Early TV”:
It was the worst week ever during a regular season for NBC last week as its programs averaged just 4.4 million viewers in primetime, according to Nielsen Research. Indeed, as the Associated Press pointed out, no network has ever drawn so few viewers outside the “summer doldrums” of June, July, August and early September. NBC registered fewer viewers in August 2007, but it is likely that it had previously never drawn such a small audience since the early days of television, AP observed. NBC did face heavy competition from the likes of Fox’s season-finale episodes of American Idol and ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. But there was little to account for the network’s tumble on other nights. [I can think of a few reasons — Ed] It’s Friday-night Howie Do It drew just 2.3 million viewers, and even its highly touted 30 Rock could attract no more than 2.8 million. Its highest-rated show was the aging Law & Order: SVU, which came in at No. 23 on the Nielsen list with 6.9 million viewers. By contrast, NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams averaged 7.4 million viewers for the week — more than watched any NBC primetime show. For the week, Fox topped the list (thanks primarily to American Idol) with an average 5.9 rating and an 11 share. CBS placed second with a 5.7/10. ABC followed with a 4.7/8, while NBC trailed with a 3.0/5.
That’ll play well at the next GE shareholders meeting…
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