Who's Hot? Who's Not! US Nonfiction Cable Networks, 3Q 2012 vs. 3Q 2011

Which U.S. Factual channels were among the biggest gainers and losers of prime time viewers year-to-year?

Among the winners:

Discovery’s ID charged on with its Crime-themed schedule that appeals to both Male and Female viewers.
Given up by many as headed for yet another re-branding, OWN’s steady management team has set expectations in the right place, and the gains are on the chart.
Bio made valuable headway.
Discovery Networks is an overall winner, with 5 channels in our top 10 gainers. They are ID, OWN, Animal Planet, Science and Velocity.

U.S. Factual Channels
Average Quarterly Prime Time Audience
3Q’12 versus 3Q’11
(‘000)

	Rating	Viewers
	3Q’12	3Q’12	3Q’11	+/-	%
ID	0.7	568	460	108	23%
OWN: Oprah	0.3	275	188	87	46%
Bio	0.3	219	157	62	39%
VH1	0.6	545	484	61	13%
Animal Planet	0.5	477	429	48	11%
H2	0.3	201	155	46	30%
Nat Geo Wild	0.2	142	98	44	45%
Science	0.3	225	189	36	19%
Velocity	0.2	88	56	32	57%
Tru	0.9	829	798	31	4%
Fuel	0.1	33	11	22	200%
Ovation	0.1	59	39	20	51%
DIY	0.2	96	80	16	20%
Military	0.2	145	129	16	12%
Golf	0.1	117	104	13	13%
TLC	0.9	876	865	11	1%
Travel	0.4	334	331	3	1%
WE	0.3	221	220	1	0%
GAC	0.1	46	47	(1)	-2%
Logo	0.1	39	40	(1)	-3%
HGTV	1.0	999	1,001	(2)	0%
G4	0.2	97	100	(3)	-3%
Outdoor	0.1	39	42	(3)	-7%
Nat Geo Channel	0.5	380	384	(4)	-1%
Food	0.9	893	900	(7)	-1%
Fuse	0.1	31	39	(8)	-21%
Fit & Health	0.1	71	89	(18)	-20%
Oxygen	0.4	319	337	(18)	-5%
E!	0.6	540	566	(26)	-5%
BET	0.6	581	608	(27)	-4%
Speed	0.2	130	157	(27)	-17%
Current	0.1	31	63	(32)	-51%
IFC	0.1	85	121	(36)	-30%
A&E	1.2	1,200	1,242	(42)	-3%
Style	0.2	155	208	(53)	-25%
Weather	0.2	212	268	(56)	-21%
History	1.5	1,458	1,516	(58)	-4%
Discovery	0.8	819	886	(67)	-8%
SYFY	1.0	984	1,070	(86)	-8%
Spike	0.6	592	704	(112)	-16%
MTV	0.7	678	1,062	(384)	-36%

Factual Nets		15,829	16,243	(414)	-3%

Nielsen Media Research

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.
Smithsonian Channel and other netwoks that commission Factual are unrated.

Our quarterly, high-level snapshot is prepared with the assistance of John Morse, president of research firm Byron Media.

Quantity Not Quality

Most ad-supported channels sell media based on their target demos.
Nevertheless, our measure of the quarterly ‘average prime time’ audience is a useful tool for gauging relative scale of viewing and year-to-year trends.

HIGHLIGHTS

Losing average prime time viewers are (‘000 / %):

MTV (-384 / -36%). Jersey Shore is washed up and Teen Mom is not an evergreen. Its a shock to see this powerhouse global brand fall into such hard times. Remember: “I want my MTV!”?
Spike (-112 / -16%)
SyFy (-86 / -8%)
Discovery Channel (-67 / -8%). That’s an improvement on the loss for the previous quarter (-10%).
Surprisingly, History showed up among the ‘Not So Hot!’ channels (-58 / -4%). Is History peaking? Maybe its past time for the next Pawn Stars?
A&E also lost viewers as several franchise series aged out.
There’s barely a pulse at Current, the channel that Al Gore launched.

What?? The Factual Tide Fell!

Our Unscripted bucket dropped 3%. That’s the first time in decades of monitoring the unstoppable rise of nonfiction television.
Maybe its an anomaly?
Broadcast networks and traditional scripted cable channels like TNT are committing more and more slots to nonfiction, and these viewers don’t show up on our scan.

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International Documentary Buyers’ Guide

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