Discovery Strikes Gold with Planet
Discovery Channel delivered monumental ratings with the first three installments of its Planet Earth documentary series, averaging 5.72 million viewers Sunday night between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., while drawing the week’s largest single audience with 6.07 million viewers tuning in during the second hour (Mountains).

The five-years-in-the-making documentary series - which debuted with an overview of the planet’s diverse animal habitats (Pole to Pole) - generated the largest audience for Discovery since Sept. 11, 2005, when its Flight That Fought Back was seen by more than 7 million viewers. Planet Earth claimed the top two programming spots for the week ending on March 25, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Hour three of the series (Deep Ocean) managed to retain 5.38 million viewers in the 10 p.m. slot, finishing just behind USA Network’s WWE Raw - which took third place on the week with 5.45 million viewers. (more…)

Monday night football all year?
ESPN’s first season of Monday Night Football was a huge success. The games set record after record for the network, and ratings rose 28 percent over the previous year’s Sunday Night Football.

Now the network is launching what it hopes will be another successful Monday night football franchise, albeit on a much smaller scale. This week ESPN debut the new weekly Arena Football League game on ESPN2 when the Los Angeles Avengers squared off against the Orlando Predators. (more…)

Discovery Reaps Big Buzz Over Jesus
The Lost Tomb of Jesus didn’t set any viewership records Sunday night for the Discovery Channel. It came nowhere near the 10 million who tuned in for the documentaries Walking with Dinosaurs or Raising the Mammoth a few years back. But the network certainly got tons of free publicity out of the special, which will go down as one of the most controversial programs in recent years on cable.

Tomb drew a very solid 4.9 million viewers Sunday night, making it the most-watched program of the year. It ranked No. 48 in 2007 thus far among total viewers, out-pacing programs including FX’s Dirt, USA’s Psych and E!’s Academy Awards red carpet show.

And it nearly quadrupled the network’s primetime average of 1.1 million viewers during February, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Turner Networks.

The documentary revisited the 1980 discovery of a group of 10 ossuaries in Israel believed to hold the remains of Jesus Christ and members of his family.
Media Life Magazine online (3-7-07)

Wired Cable Gains Momentum with Triple-Play Pitch
The churn war started by cut-rate satellite TV offerings has been fierce over the last few years. But even in the face of stiff competition from satellite and now the Telco’s, Cable has continued to preserve its overwhelming leadership.

ADS penetration growth has begun to slow; leveling off at 25 percent and remaining constant over the past several months with Cable’s fierce marketing of it’s “Triple Play” - high-speed Internet, television (linear TV plus Video on Demand) and telephone service over a single broadband connection - showing great results.

So in the face of stiff competition, Ad-Supported Cable’s top notch programming continues to drive viewership throughout the day.

Wired cable continues to experience solid growth remaining the best solution to reach top consumer prospects at the DMA and sub-DMA level.
CAB online (3-6-07)

College Hill in the Islands
Reality TV has exploded over the past five years, and yet very few of the shows feature minorities, especially on broadcast networks. To see reality programs where blacks are more than bit players, you have to look on cable. There, several of the most successful programs among black households are reality shows where African Americans play prominent roles, and one returned this week for its fourth season.

College Hill, which follows eight college students attending classes in the Virgin Islands, kicked off its new season on BET.

Hill was the top returning original series among black households last year, with ratings up 15 percent over its second season. It drew an average 1 million total viewers.
Media Life Magazine online (3-6-07)

ESPN, USGA to Tee Up Through 2014
ESPN will keep its hand on its most significant golf property well into the next decade. The sports-programming behemoth reached an eight-year contract extension with the United States Golf Association, maintaining its position as the exclusive cable partner of the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open through 2014.

ESPN, which has televised the USGA championships since 1982, will continue to televise 14 hours of the U.S. Open and a combined eight hours of the women’s and senior tournaments on Thursdays and Fridays.
Multichannel News online (3-2-07)