Nielsen: Cable Commands 70 Percent of Prime-Time GRPs

Per Nielsen ratings data, cable deliveries are on a decade-long upward trajectory, and while growth has slowed in recent years, it has not seized up altogether. As it stands now, just a week before the second quarter of 2012 comes to a close, cable is on track to command 70 percent of TV’s total adults 18-49 gross rating points (GRPs) in prime time. That marks a tiny uptick from Q2 2011, when the cable networks accounted for 68 percent of all prime-time viewing, but it’s a significant leap from five years ago, when share hovered at around 61 percent. In a show of obverse symmetry, broadcast continues its downward course. Ten years ago, the Big Four laid claim to 46 percent of all nightly GRPs; this year broadcast’s Q2 share is projected to fall to 30 percent.