2012 Basic Cable Ratings: USA Tops Again, History, TBS & Lifetime Up, MTV & Nick At Nite Fall
The year isn’t quite over, but unless there is a major last-minute shift, the top rankings of Cable 2012 look a lot like Cable 2011. USA Network is the No. 1 cable network and tops among adults 18-49 in primetime for the seventh year running according to data from Nielsen (see the full viewership and demo lists after the jump). The other top rankings pretty much stayed the same as last year with the exception of History Channel, which moved up to fourth place, and TNT, last year’s No. 4, moving to fifth. Scoring its best year ever, History hit cable record ratings late this spring with its Hatfields & McCoys miniseries.
With original series like Burn Notice, White Collar and Suits, USA held a good lead over other networks, though it didn’t have a break-out hit this year USA did decline 10% in total viewership and 13% in the 18-49 demographic compared with last year. Coverage of the Presidential election helped push Fox News Channel to a 10% gain in total viewership, a 6% rise in 18-49, and a 1% bump in the 25-54 demo.
Related: Fox News Tops 2012 Cable News Network Ratings
Now airing reruns of The Big Bang Theory, TBS saw an explosion upwards of 23% in total viewers and 20% in 18-49. Seeing another big shift up is Lifetime, which returned to the Top 20 this year. Pumped up by original series like Dance Moms and The Client List and original movies like the Steel Magnolias remake, Lifetime rose 7% in viewers and 14% in 18-49 year-over-year. With a surge in audience for its The Walking Dead, AMC moved up 11% among 18-49 and 1% in total viewers.
As some go up, others go down. Nick At Nite almost fell out of the Top 20 this year. Nickelodeon’s nighttime channel slid 36% in total viewers from last year and 34% in the 18-49 demo. Having seen the once big draw Jersey Shore enter its final season this year to low ratings and no new hits to replace those numbers, MTV finished No. 22 this year, down 24% in total viewers and 25% in 18-49. Despite strong election-year ratings for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, Comedy Central also fell out of the Top 20, slipping 15% in viewers and 14% in 18-49 to end up No. 25. Several other networks had their highest-rated years to date in 2012: For a seventh year in a row, Bravo reached new heights, Cartoon Network had its most-watched year in its 20-year history, and Style did better than ever in the 18-49 and 18-34 demos.
Here are the top cable networks of 2012 in total viewers and adults 18-49, based on current data:
Top 20 Cable Networks In Primetime: Total Viewers (in millions)/% change from 2011
1. USA 2.973 -10%
2. Disney 2.473 -9%
3. ESPN 2.213 -2%
4. History 2.192 +9%
5. TNT 2.176 -5%
6. FNC 2.034 +10
7. TBS 1.963 +23
8. A&E 1.633 +4
9. Adult Swim 1.448 -2%
10. FX 1.436 -8%
11. Family 1.352 -9%
12. SyFy 1.337 -3%
13. Discovery 1.288 -1%
14. Food Network 1.235 +4%
15. Lifetime 1.204 +7%
16. AMC 1.199 +1%
17. HGTV 1.185 -2%
18. TLC 1.089 -1%
19. TruTV 1.076 -2%
20. Nick At Nite 1.059 -36%
Top 20 Cable Networks in Primetime: Adults 18-49 Ratings (Viewership in millions)/% change from last year
1. USA 1.092 -13%
2. ESPN 1.062 0%
3. TBS 1.061 +20%
4. TNT 0.909 -8%
5. History 0.899 0%
6. FX 0. 801 -8&
7. A&E 0.761 0%
8. Adult Swim 0.673 -4%
9. Discovery 0.662 -3%
10. Family 0.649 -5%
11. MTV 0.586 -25%
12. SyFy 0.580 -2%
13. Food Network 0.570 -1%
14. Bravo 0.559 -6%
15. Comedy Central 0.542 -14%
16. TruTV 0.532 -2%
17. Lifetime 0.531 +14%
18. AMC 0.528 +11%
19. TLC 0.505 -5%
20. Disney 0.471 -13%
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