Some Broadcast Slippage, Cable Sees Uptick In Summer Fare

Summertime ratings have an easy winner so far -- an Olympics-heavy NBC. But looking deeper -- sans the high-rated Olympics programming -- all broadcast networks and most cable networks have shown slippage.

Looking at the live plus seven day DVR playback through August 19, NBC has averaged 3.1 rating among 18-49 viewers when looking at all its summer programming -- but a 1.5 rating without the Olympics. This number is down 8% from a year ago -- not bad considering that other networks have hit lower levels, percentage-wise. Fox is getting a 1.6 rating now, down 11%; ABC, at a 1.5 rating, off 15; and CBS, down 17% to a 1.1 rating.