Put a fork in it, the TV season is done - and three nets can claim to be winners
To no one's surprise, the season finale that crowned Taylor Hicks the 5th "American Idol" gave Fox big numbers on the final night of the May sweeps and nailed down its second straight TV season victory in the key 18-49 demo. Preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research pegged the total audience for "Idol" at 36 million. The strong finish nosed Fox ahead of resurgent ABC in the 18-49 demo for the 2005-2006 season, but ABC had plenty to brag about, finishing a close second in the demo most prized by advertisers and having the most improved numbers of any network pretty much across the board. CBS, of course, finished the sweeps and season comfortably ahead in total viewership. So, of the big four, that left only NBC as the one without a particularly good story to tell - except for wait until next year.
Univision also had plenty to brag about. Having been in the mainstream Nielsen ratings for only two sweeps periods, the Spanish TV leader was quick to point out that it beat at least one of the big four - ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC - for the Adults 18-34 demo on 14 of the 28 nights in the May sweeps. "In addition, among total viewers (P2+), Adults 18-24, Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49, Univision finished the May 2006 sweep as the 5th ranked broadcast network in prime time. The network also delivered its second highest Adult 18-49 prime time audience performance compared to any May sweeps period," Univision noted.
Here are the final Nielsen tallies for the big four, as provided to TVBR by CBS.
PRIMETIME 2005-2006 FULL SEASON
(9/19/05-5/24/06 vs. 9/20/04-5/25/05)
HOUSEHOLDS
NET '04-'05 '05-'06
CBS 8.2/13 8.4/14
NBC 6.4/10 6.5/11
ABC 6.9/11 6.5/11
FOX 6.2/10 6.1/10
PERSONS 2+ (Millions)
CBS 12.60 12.92
NBC 9.72 9.78
ABC 10.80 10.05
FOX 10.10 10.04
ADULTS 25-54
CBS 4.8/12 4.9/12
NBC 3.9/10 4.2/10
ABC 4.6/11 4.3/10
FOX 4.4/11 4.3/10
ADULTS 18-49
CBS 3.8/10 4.0/11
NBC 3.3/09 3.5/09
ABC 4.0/11 3.7/10
FOX 4.1/11 4.1/11
MAY 2006 SWEEP-TD: 25 DAYS
(4/27/06-5/21/06 vs. 4/28/05-5/22/05)
PERSONS 2+ (Millions)
NET '04-'05 '05-'06
CBS 12.54 13.62
NBC 9.21 9.29
ABC 9.34 9.76
FOX 11.65 10.69
ADULTS 25-54
CBS 4.7/12 5.1/13
NBC 3.8/09 3.9/10 .
ABC 4.0/10 4.3/11
FOX 5.1/13 4.7/12
ADULTS 18-49
CBS 3.7/10 4.1/11
NBC 3.1/09 3.2/09 .
ABC 3.5/10 3.7/10
FOX 4.8/13 4.5/13
Source: CBS; Nielsen Media Research data
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