It has been written all over the trades that TBS, for
the first time, beat USA Network as top cable "dog" in fourth quarter 2011
primetime thanks to the addition of one explosive syndicated show...The Big Bang Theory.
Well, there's a lot more to the story that you may not know.
Yes, Big Bang is a big hit, but the
reason that TBS ratings exploded was that they ran the comedy 182 times in
primetime in fourth quarter. The bump in the earlier time periods, in
turn, also helped raise Conan's
ratings on TBS at 11 p.m.
It's not like USA didn't try for the most-watched cable
network. It ran its syndicated hit drama NCIS
125 times during the quarter.
Wonder why TV Land ratings were up? Well, they ran
syndicated sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond
an astronomical 322 times in primetime in fourth quarter and it was the most-televised
show on cable in the same quarter.
A&E Network was also up, and you're wondering why? Well,
they ran mega-reality hit Storage Wars
in marathons every night. In fact, 188 times in fourth quarter.
Food Network, which was not in contention for the most-watched,
was still in there trying by running its popular reality series Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives
a total of 132 times.
