Which U.S. Factual channels are gaining or losing prime time viewers year-to-year?
Here are three highlights:
- A&E swoops into the #1 spot on our list of Factual channels that gained average prime time viewers (+192,000).
- Food (+106,000) and VH1 (+97,000) are on a roll.
- Discovery Networks’ ID is up 90,000.
METHODOLOGY
Our bucket of channels is not apples-to-apples:
- It includes channels that are dedicated to non-scripted, for example Nat Geo and Discovery.
- And others like A&E and MTV that include Scripted in the mix.
- Some channels that schedule Factual are unrated, or were not rated last year.
Our quarterly, high-level snapshot is prepared with the assistance of John Morse, president of research firm Byron Media.
DOCUMENTARYTELEVISION.COM CHART: WHO’S HOT? WHO’S NOT!
U.S. Factual Channels
Average Quarterly Prime Time Audience, 4Q’11 versus 4Q’10
(‘000)
| Viewers: |
|
|
| |
Rating 4Q’11 | 4Q’11 | 4Q’10 | Change | % | |
A&E | 1.2 | 1,178 | 986 | 192 | 19% |
DISCOVERY | 1.0 | 954 | 815 | 139 | 17% |
FOOD | 0.9 | 925 | 819 | 106 | 13% |
VH1 | 0.5 | 445 | 348 | 97 | 28% |
ID: INVEST DIS | 0.6 | 448 | 358 | 90 | 25% |
BRAVO | 0.9 | 822 | 750 | 72 | 10% |
SYFY | 1.0 | 964 | 907 | 57 | 6% |
NAT GEO WILD | 0.2 | 123 | 86 | 37 | 43% |
BIO | 0.2 | 160 | 140 | 20 | 14% |
MILITARY | 0.2 | 142 | 122 | 20 | 16% |
E! ENTERTT | 0.6 | 558 | 539 | 19 | 4% |
STYLE | 0.2 | 153 | 135 | 18 | 13% |
BET | 0.7 | 601 | 586 | 15 | 3% |
H2 (HIST INTL) | 0.3 | 166 | 154 | 12 | 8% |
ANIMAL PLANET | 0.4 | 415 | 407 | 8 | 2% |
HISTORY | 1.3 | 1,237 | 1,246 | -9 | 0% |
OWN: OPRAH | 0.2 | 186 | 195 | -9 | -5% |
NAT GEO CHAN | 0.4 | 340 | 350 | -10 | -3% |
TRU TV | 0.8 | 733 | 749 | -16 | -2% |
WE | 0.3 | 213 | 230 | -17 | -7% |
MTV | 0.8 | 761 | 782 | -21 | -3% |
OXYGEN | 0.4 | 317 | 348 | -31 | -9% |
HGTV | 0.9 | 891 | 931 | -40 | -4% |
TRAVEL | 0.3 | 322 | 370 | -48 | -13% |
TLC | 0.8 | 824 | 910 | -86 | -9% |
SPIKE | 0.6 | 635 | 756 | -121 | -16% |
Factual Networks | 14,950 | 14,019 | 494 | 4% |
Quantity Not Quality
- Most ad-supported channels sell media based on their target demos.
- And networks rate their performance (and those of their managers) quarter-to-quarter rather than year-to-year.
- Nevertheless, our measure of the quarterly ‘average prime time’ audience is a useful tool for gauging relative scale of viewing and trends.
HIGHLIGHTS
Largest audience in our sample (‘000)
- History (1,237), A&E (1,178), SYFY (964), Discovery (954), Food (925)
- Discovery and Food replaced HGTV and MTV in our Top 5
Growth (%)
- Top 5: Nat Geo Wild (43% – reflecting solid sub growth), VH1 (28%), ID (marching on at 25%), A&E (19% – Whew! It’s hot!) and Discovery (17% – the squadron leader turns around)
- Audience losers were Spike (-16%), Travel (-13%), TLC (-9%), Oxygen (-9%), We (-7%)
The Factual Tide Keeps Rising
- The broad Unscripted category continues to grow at the expense of Scripted, News and other categories.
- The year-to-year increase for DocumentaryTelevision.com’s bucket of Basic factual channels was a steady 4%.
OTHERS
Here are 4Q’11 prime time averages for a selection of channels…
| Viewers: | |
Rating 4Q11 | 4Q’11 | |
USA | 2.7 | 2,656 |
LIFETIME | 1.0 | 961 |
WEATHER | 0.3 | 268 |
IFC | 0.2 | 121 |
LOGO | 0.1 | 40 |
MSNBC | 0.7 | 624 |
HBO (Pay) | 3.7 | 1,126 |
DISC FIT & HEALTH | 0.2 | 84 |
PL GREEN | 0.2 | 100 |
SCIENCE | 0.3 | 186 |
DIY | 0.2 | 97 |
CURRENT | 0.1 | 56 |
VELOCITY | 0.2 | 66 |
OVATION | 0.1 | 34 |
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