A Look at the Good Ol' Days of Broadcast Primetime TV: You Know, 2003

By John Consoli -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/14/2013 2:10:35 PM

What a difference a decade makes in broadcast primetime television.

Going back to the 2002-03 TV season to examine the programming viewership landscape yields some pretty interesting findings—including numbers that would make any network programmers and advertisers wish they could reel back the years.

The top 10 primetime series that season, according to Nielsen ratings data, were:

Series	Network	18-49 Rating	Total Viewers
Joe Millionaire	Fox	12.1	22.9
Friends	NBC	10.4	21.8
American Idol (Wed.)	Fox	10.3	21.9
American Idol (Thurs.)	Fox	10.1	21.6
ER	NBC	9.6	20.1
CSI	CBS	9.5	26.2
WIll & Grace	NBC	8.6	16.7
Survivor: Thailand	CBS	8.5	21.2
Scrubs	NBC	7.9	15.9
The Bachelorette	ABC	7.8	16.7

The top-rated program of the current 2012-13 season is NBC's Sunday Night Football with a 7.8 18-49 rating and 20.9 million viewers. But no other primetime show from this season would have ranked in the top 10 among adults 18-49 during the 2002-03 season, and perhaps not even in the top 30.

The second highest-rated 18-49 demo show this season is CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory with a 4.9. The 10^th highest rated in the demo is CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother with a 3.2 rating. During the 2002-03 season, Saturday night repeats of Law & Order: SVU on NBC averaged a 3.3 18-49 demo rating. But How I Met Your Mother would have beaten Fox's big sitcom hope of that year, Andy Richter Rules the Universe, which averaged a 3.1.

NFL football, however, is even more popular today that it was a decade ago. The ABC Monday Night Football telecasts during the 2002-03 season averaged a 7.1 18-49 rating and 16.9 million viewers, a number that lags behind this season's NBC NFL Sunday night telecasts.

A decade ago, fewer broadcast network primetime series than today had median age audiences over 50. The oldest-skewing series in primetime during the 2002-03 season was CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes, which, with a median age of 60, was the only show to skew out of the 50s. However, 60 Minutes during that season average 13.9 million viewers and a 2.9 18-49 rating, the latter being close to an advertisers' dream based on today's broadcast primetime ratings in the demo. This season so far, 60 Minutes is averaging 12.8 million viewers, so its overall popularity is still pretty much intact and its median age audience has gone up only by maybe a year or so.

Conversely, American Idol was a true powerhouse series in 2002-03, its second season, while this year it is clearly on the steady decline. This season Idol is averaging a 4.8 18-49 rating on Wednesday nights and a 4.4 on Thursdays, and in recent weeks those numbers have been even lower. That means it's lost more than 60% of its 18-49 audience over the past decade. And it is also averaging 6-7 million fewer viewers per night. But its ratings this season still put it among the top 5 shows on television.

Other than 60 Minutes, some of the other older-skewing shows at the time were CBS sitcom Becker and CBS dramas The Guardian and JAG, which all had median age audiences of 58. CBS drama The District had a median age audience of 57, and CBS dramas Touched by an Angel and The Agency, and NBC drama Hunter, each had median age audiences of 56. Drama Judging Amy on CBS had a median age of 55 and drama Providence on NBC had a median age of 54.

The oldest-skewing scripted show on ABC was dramedy Monk with a median age of 53.

Other than Becker, the only other sitcom with a median age audience of 50 or older during the 2002-03 season was King of Queens on CBS, with a median age right at 50. NBC dramas Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU and CBS drama Without a Trace had median ages of 50.

ABC dramas The Practice and NYPD Blue had median age audiences of 48.

A middle of the pack entertainment competition series on CBS, Star Search, averaged 10.8 million viewers and a 3.2 demo rating, which today would make it the fourth highest-rated entertainment competition series among viewers 18-49 behind NBC's The Voice and the two Idol airings.

The youngest-skewing broadcast primetime series in 2002-03 was Sabrina the Teenage Witch on The WB, with a median age audience of 26. The WB drama Dawson's Creek was next youngest with a median age of 27, followed by WWE Smackdown on UPN with a median age of 29, Girlfriends on UPN and the WB's Gilmore Girls, each at 30. That list does not include Fox's animated series.

Clearly, CW execs have to look back at the ratings numbers produced by The WB and UPN, which eventually merged to form The CW, and just wish the clock could be turned back from these days of multiplatform viewing and myriad electronic distractions that help keep the numbers down, especially among younger viewers.

The WB was doing so well that season that it cancelled a freshman drama series halfway through the season, Birds of Prey, which was averaging 4.2 million viewers and a 2.1 18-49 rating.

During that season, The WB's most-watched series was 7^th Heaven, which averaged 6.1 million viewers and a 2.4 18-49 demo rating with a median age audience of 35. Gilmore Girls averaged 5.2 million and a 2.3 demo rating, Everwood averaged 4.8 million with a 1.9 demo rating, and Dawson's Creek averaged 4 million viewers with a 2.1 18-49 rating.

Ironically, Reba McEntire, who is now starring in an ABC sitcom on Friday nights, Malibu Country, was starring a decade ago in the Friday night WB sitcom Reba and pulling in 4.5 million viewers and a 1.7 18-49 rating. Malibu Country is averaging 5.9 million viewers but only a 1.3 18-49 rating; needless to say, Reba's audience has aged up over the years.

The highest rated series on UPN in the 2002-03 season was its Thursday night edition of WWE Smackdown, which pulled in 5.4 million viewers per week with a 2.1 18-49 rating.

A lot of the audience dynamics have changed over the past decade with the emergence of digital TV viewers and the continued growth of DVR usage, so it's impossible to make a real comparison. But just to show how times have really changed, one need look only at Saturday night broadcast viewing a decade ago.

Yes, the networks had already begun airing repeats on Saturday nights, but viewers were watching them in droves compared to recent years. While Saturday nights back then were still the lowest viewed night of the week, repeats could still draw more than 9 million viewers for certain series. And even Fridays were not throwaway nights for the networks.

NBC repeats of Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent on Saturday nights during the 2002-03 season averaged 9.7 million viewers and a 3.3 18-49 demo rating, and 9.3 million and a 3.0 demo rating, respectively.

And on Friday nights, NBC drama Providence averaged 10.9 million viewers and a 3.0 demo rating and first-run SVU's averaged 14.8 million and a 5.0 demo rating. What NBC wouldn't do for numbers like that on any night this season!