CBS 'sweeps' happy despite stumbles
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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Despite two highly publicized stumbles over a Ronald Reagan movie and a Michael Jackson special that never were, CBS Monday claimed its best performance in the November ratings "sweeps" since Reagan was elected president.
CBS said it expects to finish the sweep -- a monthlong audience survey used by local TV stations to set advertising rates -- as the No. 1 broadcaster in overall viewership and the only major network to post year-to-year gains by most key ratings measures.
The Viacom Inc.-owned network said it projected its average audience for the sweep, which officially ends Wednesday night, at 14.6 million viewers, up 10 percent from last November and 3 million more than its closest competitor, General Electric Co. unit NBC.
CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves said that ranks as his network's widest margin of victory since 1980, when Reagan won his first term as president and Moonves himself was making his living as a TV character actor.
NBC returned to a No. 1 ratings finish in the battle for viewers aged 18 to 49, its first sweeps crown in that highly coveted demographic since last year and its fourth straight November victory in adults under 50.
But NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker acknowledged that his network was down 10 percent from a year ago in its benchmark demographic, while CBS was up 2 percent.
"CBS is declaring a convincing, dominating and historic sweep victory," Moonves said during a series of conference calls held by executives of the Big Four networks -- ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox -- to tout their accomplishments for the month.
CBS managed a strong sweeps standing despite one of the rockiest months the network has weathered in recent years in terms of scheduling.
Moonves pulled the highly promoted but controversial TV movie "The Reagans" from the CBS lineup just 12 days before its air date under mounting pressure from Republicans and political conservatives that the film was unfairly biased against the former president. The movie was sold to CBS' sister pay-cable network, Showtime, instead.
Two weeks later, CBS scrubbed its planned broadcast for a prime-time Michael Jackson entertainment special as news broke that felony charges of child molestation were pending against the self-styled "King of Pop."
"Yes, there were a couple of bumps in the road this November," Moonves said. Using a football metaphor to describe the network's brush with adversity, he added, "We got thrown for a minor loss in the middle of the game, but we got up and won the game by 45 points."
CBS also clinched its first November ratings victory for its own target demographic of viewers 25- to 54-years-old since 1980 and its first No. 2 showing since 1983 in the key ratings race for viewers aged 18 to 49 since 1983.
The network further boasted the top-rated show in prime time, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," as well as the No. 1 new comedy in total viewers, "Two and a Half Men" and the most watched new drama, "Cold Case."
Meanwhile, executives at ABC, which has struggled during the past few seasons to rebuild its schedule, used their end-of-sweeps call to highlight the relative success of the Walt Disney Co.-owned network's comedies, including "8 Simple Rules," "According to Jim" and "George Lopez."
ABC's Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday night comedy blocks each led their respective time periods during the sweep in 18-to-49 ratings. In addition, eight of ABC's 10 sitcoms ranked No. 1 in their time slots.
"Our core strength has been in the comedy arena," ABC Chairman Lloyd Braun said. ABC programming chief Susan Lyne said she thought the network's strategy of keeping its schedule as stable as possible was paying off by giving viewers a greater chance to sample new shows.
Fox, which shot to No. 1 in the 18-49 ratings during the February and May 2003 sweeps on the strength of reality hits "Joe Millionaire" and "American Idol," has fallen back to fourth place this month as some its high-profile new offerings failed to ignite the same level of excitement.
Copyright 2003
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