USA CONTINUES TO MAKE HISTORY WITH 1ST QUARTER WIN
Unprecedented Consecutive Quarter Streak Increases to 19 Straight Wins
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – March 22, 2011 – USA was #1 in 1Q11, a victory that extends its unprecedented run to nineteen consecutive quarterly wins among ad supported entertainment cable networks among P25-54 and total viewers. More P25-54 (1.26 million, +9% over #2 ESPN), total viewers (3.04 million, +15% over #2 ESPN) and households (2.26 million, +18% over #2 ESPN) watched USA this quarter than any other network on cable, while USA was the top choice for P18-49 (1.16 million, +16% over #2 TNT) in all of cable entertainment. USA earned the quarter’s best household coverage rating in basic cable prime (2.26, +0.33 over #2 DSNY).
USA was the only cable network to deliver over 3 million total viewers or 2 million households in 1Q11 and the only entertainer with over 1 million P25-54 or P18-49 in the quarter’s primetime.
USA continues to out-perform the competition with new episodes of USA Originals Royal Pains, WHITE COLLAR, FAIRLY LEGAL, WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW, hit movies, and episodes of the hottest acquired series on cable, NCIS, LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit and newest addition to USA, CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. 12 of the quarter’s top 25 scripted telecasts among P25-54 were on USA as were 10 of the P18-49 top 25.
* Royal Pains dominated cable in its timeslot, outperforming every competitor in the Thursday 9pm time period among P25-54, P18-49, total viewers and households while holding court as the most watched drama on cable this year to date among P25-54* (2.47 million), total viewers (5.47 million) and households (3.94 million) and placing second only to sister series WHITE COLLAR among P18-49 (2.15 million).
* WHITE COLLAR was the quarter’s most watched original drama on cable among P18-49 (2.29 million), placing second only to sister series Royal Pains among P25-54 (2.38 million), total viewers (4.88 million) and households (3.50 million). When USA aired the series Tuesdays at 10pm, WHITE COLLAR outperformed ABC and CBS in delivering P18-34. Compared to its 1Q10 performance, the show collared +5% more P18-49 and P25-54 viewers this year, bumping up its audience among F18-34 and F18-49 by double digits (+14% and +10%, respectively).
* FAIRLY LEGAL is cable’s top new series this year to date among P25-54 (1.76 million) and the #1 new drama among P18-49 (1.49 million), delivering more M18-34/18-49/25-54/total males than ABC head to head in its Thursday 10pm time period.
* WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW continues to dominate its time period as the #1 entertainment program in all of television, broadcast or cable, Mondays from 9pm-11pm in 1Q11 among M18-34 and M18-49, coming in second only to CBS among M25-54 and total males. WWE Raw is also the top entertainment program on cable in this time period across the board, winning in P18-34, P18-49, P25-54, total viewers and households while outperforming FOX and NBC head to head in P18-34 and beating NBC in P18-49. WWE Raw averaged 2.58 million P25-54, 2.64 million P18-49, 1.23 million P18-34, 5.45 million total viewers and 3.63 million households in 1Q11.
* USA’s NCIS and LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit were once again the top two acquired series on cable among P25-54 (NCIS 1.29 million / SVU 1.09 million), total viewers (NCIS 3.57 million / SVU 2.74 million) and households (NCIS 2.68 million / SVU 2.16 million) and the top two acquired dramas among P18-49 (SVU 1.08 million / NCIS 1.07 million) and P18-34 (SVU 518,000 / NCIS 386,000). Newcomer CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION was a top 10 acquired series in 1Q11 among P25-54 (662,000/#10), total viewers (1.78 million/#7) and households (1.40 million/#6). No other cable network aired an acquired series to over 1 million P25-54, 2 million total viewers or 2 million households or an acquired drama to over 1 million P18-49 or half a million P18-34.
(* Series claims exclude shows with fewer than five telecasts)
