NFL Kicks ESPN to Top Spot
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/1/2002 7:00:00 PM
The National Football League is hot enough to carry an entire cable network on its shoulder pads. Buoyed by to stellar football ratings, ESPN finished November with a 2.4 average prime time rating, more than a half rating point away from its closest competitor, Lifetime, according to Turner Broadcast analysis of Nielsen Media Research. ESPN's ratings increased 33% over last November.
| The Shifting Ratings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Here's how top and bottom cable networks did in November, compared to their numbers a year ago. | ||
| Winners | ||
| Source: Nielsen Media Research |
||
| Network | Rating | % Change |
| ESPN | 2.4 | 33% |
| TLC | 1.1 | 43% |
| Sci Fi | 1.0 | 38% |
| ESPN2 | 0.6 | 20% |
| VH1 | 0.4 | 33% |
| Losers | ||
| TBS | 1.4 | -30% |
| CNN | 0.9 | -25% |
| SoapNet | 0.5 | -29% |
| MSNBC | 0.4 | -43% |
| CNBC | 0.2 | -50% |
ESPN's Sunday Night Football franchise accounted for the month's four highest-rated programs on cable. The best came Nov. 17, when a New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders game notched an impressive 8.4 rating. In fact, the only non-ESPN show to rank among November's top 10 cable shows was Nickelodeon's own ratings smash, SpongeBob SquarePants.
Lifetime, which posted a 1.8 average in prime, fell into the second spot. TNT came in third with a 1.7 average; Nickelodeon and USA rounded out the top five, each with 1.6 ratings.
TLC continues to be Discovery Networks' top cable contender. The network turned in a 1.1 prime time average, up 38% from last year. Its Saturday-night redecorating favorite, Trading Spaces, posted ratings above a 3.0 five times in November.
And the Sci Fi Channel perked up 43% to a 1.0 rating. Its new documentary, The Roswell Crash, investigating the excavation of the 1947 crash site (allegedly, of a UFO) in Roswell, N.M., notched a 1.7 rating on Nov. 22, the network's best rating for an original special.
Its sister net USA boasted a 3.5 debut rating for its latest original movie, Murder in Greenwich, based on former Los Angeles detective Mark Fuhrman's book on the murder of wealthy teenager Martha Moxley.
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