USA Network Touts Ratings Success, WWE Monday Night Raw

News, Press Releases, Ratings

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 among P18-49, P25-54, total viewers and households – 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 (1.27 million, +15% over #2 ESPN), P18-49 (1.16 million, +2% over ESPN), total viewers (3.08 million, +16% over #2 DSNY) and households (2.29 million, +19% over #2 DSNY) watched USA this quarter than any other network on cable. USA earned the quarter’s best household coverage rating in basic cable prime (2.29, +0.35 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. More than half of the quarter’s top 40 scripted telecasts among P25-54 were on USA.

* WHITE COLLAR was the quarter’s most watched original drama on cable among P25-54* (2.50 million) and P18-49 (2.41 million), placing second only to sister series Royal Pains among total viewers (5.12 million) and households (3.67 million). When USA aired the series Tuesdays at 10pm, WHITE COLLAR outperformed every cable competitor head to head in delivering P25-54, total viewers and households; ABC and CBS in P18-34; and ABC in P18-49. Compared to its 1Q10 performance, the show collared +5% more P18-49 and +6% more P25-54 viewers this year, bumping up its audience among F18-34 and F18-49 by double digits (+14% and +10%, respectively).

* 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 total viewers (5.47 million) and households (3.94 million) and placing second only to sister series WHITE COLLAR among P25-54 (2.47 million) and P18-49 (2.15 million).

* FAIRLY LEGAL is cable’s top new series this year to date among P25-54 (1.79 million), total viewers (4.35 million) and households (3.27 million), and the #1 new drama among P18-49 (1.51 million), delivering more M18-49, M25-54, and 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, coming in second only to CBS among M18-49, M25-54 and total males. WWE Raw is also the top entertainment program on cable in this time period in P18-49, P18-34, 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, 2.65 million P18-49, 1.23 million P18-34, 5.46 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 1.28 million / SVU 1.10 million), total viewers (NCIS 3.55 million / SVU 2.79 million) and households (NCIS 2.67 million / SVU 2.20 million). Among P18-49, LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit ranked as the top acquired series in prime (1.10 million) with NCIS the second most watched acquired drama for this demo (1.05 million). These were the top two acquired dramas for P18-34 in 1Q11 (SVU 530,000 / NCIS 375,000). Newcomer CSI: CRIME SCENE INVETIGATION was a top 10 acquired series in 1Q11 among total viewers (1.79 million/#8) and households (1.41 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)

USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in over 102 million U.S. homes. A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.

USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.

Glazer is a former senior editor at Pulse Wrestling and editor and reviewer at The Comics Nexus.