Summer TV Ratings Were “Terrible”

“Terrible.” That’s the word MoffettNathanson Research senior analyst Michael Nathanson uses to describe the summer television ratings in a blistering new research note.

Aggregate prime time ratings for the broadcast networks were down 5.1% in August, while cable ratings sank a “shocking” 9.8%, Nathanson notes. “It’s impossible not to worry that either consumer behavior, due to increased time-shifting, has dramatically changed or something is broken in Nielsen’s measurement model,” Nathanson writes. What’s to blame? American viewers have taken to video-on-demand, digital video recorders and streaming services like Netflix in greater numbers. That has dragged down ratings figures for both broadcast and cable networks, especially in the summer months where there’s a “lack of real original content,” Nathanson said.