CABLE NETWORKS POISED TO CONTINUE RATINGS SUCCESS IN 2004

Cable Networks Poised to Continue Ratings Success in 2004

Networks Present Their 2004 Lineups to TV Critics in Hollywood

 


Hollywood, CA – Coming off a second consecutive year topping broadcast networks in overall daytime and primetime viewer ratings, cable’s basic, digital and premium networks are poised to build upon their ratings success in 2004.

 

At the semi-annual meeting of the Television Critics Association (TCA) this week in Hollywood, 38 cable program networks unveiled a broad and diverse array of new and returning original programs that will air in 2004.

With a host of accomplished TV and film actors working to create and produce new shows, cable programming services participating in the “press tour” unveiled some unique new offerings for the year ahead, including powerful scripted dramas, informative and educational documentaries, creative new lifestyle/reality shows, the introduction of new comic talent, and other groundbreaking projects.

“The innovation, quality and diversity evident in the programming highlighted this week demonstrate why cable continues to attract more viewers,” said Jill Luckett, Vice President, Program Network Policy, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). “The fact that many established TV and film stars are bringing their creative ideas and concepts to cable proves that cable networks are offering an outlet for creative expression that can’t be found anywhere else in television.”

Major celebrities and production executives who participated in the TCA event this week, and who will make their impact felt on cable in 2004, include:

  • James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Drea DeMatteo, Steve Buscemi and creator David Chase from HBO’s The Sopranos
  • Bruce Willis, executive producer of USA Network’s Touching Evil
  • Tom Selleck from A&E Network’s IKE: Thunder in June (working title)
  • Sarah Jessica Parker from HBO’s Sex and the City
  • Robert Altman, producer from Sundance Channel's revival of Tanner '88
  • Rob Lowe from Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot; Matthew Modine and Kristen Davis from The Winning Season; and Chris Noth and Elliott Gould from Bad Apple, all featured on TNT
  • Jamie Foxx, Lynn Whitfield and Vonde Curtis Hall from FX’s Redemption
  • Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart from Showtime’s The Lion in Winter
  • Catherine Deneuve, Natassja Kinski and Leelee Sobieski from Dangerous Liaisons on WE: Women’s Entertainment
  • Hillary Swank and Julia Ormond from HBO’s Iron Jawed Angels
  • Gina Gershon from IFC’s Rocked with Gina Gershon
  • Juliette Lewis from Court TV’s Chasing Freedom
  • Goran Visnjic from USA Network’s Spartacus
  • Vanessa Williams from Showtime’s Soul Food
  • From the Hallmark Channel, Ann-Margret from A Place Called Home, and Lauren Holly and Costas Mandylor from Just Desserts, which also features an appearance by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck
  • Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway from TV Land’s The Carol Burnett Show, and Merv Griffin from TV Land Moguls
  • Jon Stewart from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
  • Keith Carradine, Ian McShane and Timothy Olyphant from HBO’s Deadwood
  • Ted Nugent from VH1’s Surviving Nugent, and
  • Lou Diamond Phillips, Fred Savage, Sharon Lawrence and Richard Karn from Travel Channel’s World Poker Tour
  • Britain's Robson Green from BBC America's Wire in the Blood and Trust

Several network announcements signaled that more content in 2004 will be made available to cable viewers in high definition (HD). TNT announced the May launch of a full-time high-definition channel. The Outdoor Life Network discussed plans for an HD documentary on world-renowned cyclist Lance Armstrong. And the president and CEO of HDNet, Mark Cuban, demonstrated the power of the HD format in communicating news and world events to viewers. As of December 1, 2003, more than 70 million television households were passed by a cable system offering high-definition services.

In addition, sessions on the tour this week served as a reminder that the presidential and general election of 2004 will provide a major platform for cable’s innovative political coverage. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Judy Woodruff laid out their network’s plans to provide in-depth and round-the-clock coverage of presidential primaries, party conventions, and the fall election campaign. Cable also will take an insightful and slightly irreverent look at the election campaign, through the eyes of comedian and observer Jon Stewart and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Indecision 2004.

Cable networks this week also showcased a variety of documentary, lifestyle/reality, informational and comedy programming they will air in 2004, including:

  • Animal Planet’s look at the return of scientist Jane Goodall to the research station where she began her research of primates, Jane Goodall’s Return to Gombe
  • BET’s first-ever dramatic reality series that focuses on the lives of eight co-eds, College Hill
  • ESPN25, ESPN’s celebration of its 25 years of covering sports
  • A reality show in which viewers will make decisions about the host’s life, FX’s Todd TV
  • The History Channel’s docu-movie about MIT students who developed a card counting scheme to beat the odds, Breaking Vegas
  • Simply Wine with Andrea Immer, Fine Living’s lifestyle program that demystifies the wine experience
  • Crittercam, a National Geographic Channel program in which animals wear the specialty cameras
  • Discovery Channel's Animal Face-off, determining which animals are fiercest
  • A&E Network’s reality look at the funeral business, Dearly Departed
  • Significant Others, Bravo's improvisational comedy about married couples
  • Samurai Sportsman, an Outdoor Life Network show that teaches a modern day Samurai about American outdoor activities
  • Mad Mad House, SCI FI Channel's reality/game show featuring ten guests invited to live with five "alternatives" in a mansion
  • style’s newest offering featuring a retro domestic diva, The Brini Maxwell Show
  • TechTV’s new series of documentaries about subcultures that technology has spawned, Nerd Nation
  • A reality series about corporate executives who work the front lines of their business, Now Who’s Boss?, from TLC
  • Travel Channel’s televised coverage of the increasingly popular world of professional poker, World Poker Tour
  • Sisters in Cinema, a BLACK STARZ! documentary about African American women film directors, and
  • Game Show Network’s reality show about personal relationships, Fake-A-Date

 


NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States. NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation’s cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers of other services to the cable industry.