From reruns to respect

Once the derided dumping ground of cheap programs and cheaper reruns, ad-supported basic cable TV networks are enjoying a moment in the sun. Sunday night at the Emmys, they took home top honors in the movie, miniseries and comedy actor categories. There was nothing basic about that.

Basic cable’s 20 awards mirrored its audience gains, which this season for the second year surpassed the broadcast networks as the place where most viewers tune over the course of the TV season. But like the Sunday night awards, cable’s audience gains are an aggregate of small advances by many networks, not the result of one or two networks surging to the top.

Sunday, TNT’s “Door to Door,” Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” USA Network’s “Monk” and Sci-Fi’s “Steven Spielberg Presents Taken” won awards that had once been the province of the broadcasters or HBO.

The awards reflect basic cable networks’ increased focus in recent years on original programming, an expensive strategy that the channels weren’t able to afford in their start-up years.

But as their revenues have grown, so has their desire to brand themselves with original fare instead of repeats of network programs, once their regular bill of fare.

As their original programs have increased, public perceptions are changing. The Turner cable networks -- which include TNT, TBS and Cartoon Network -- polled 1,600 viewers this summer and only 3% said they agreed with the statement that “the programs on the broadcast networks are better than the programs on cable,” said Jack Wakshlag, who oversees audience research for the channels. “Now the Emmy guys get it too,” he says.

In the 2001-02 season, cable’s share of viewing surpassed that of the seven broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, UPN and Pax) for the first time, Wakshlag says, citing Nielsen Media Research data. With one week to go in the 2002-03 season, basic cable has continued to gain, grabbing 49.6% of the audience to the broadcasters’ 44.9%. The remainder is divided among PBS, Spanish-language networks and pay cable services such as HBO.

Broadcasters, while tipping their hat to cable’s gains, profess to be not as worried as the numbers might suggest. Yes, the aggregate cable viewing is eating into the broadcasters’ share, but because of the fragmentation in the audience, broadcasters are still the place for the biggest audiences, says David Poltrack, CBS’ top research executive. “As viewers get more and more cable networks, it’s the smaller cable networks that are getting higher ratings,” he notes.

CBS compared the ratings of the top 10 cable networks (ranked by ad sales) this year to last year and concluded they were off 3% from September to May and down 7% this summer, Poltrack says.

As for the hype factor, that too may be just ... hype, he says. Last season’s top-rated cable show, an ESPN football game, would have ranked a mere 78th when compared to all shows on all networks, enough to tie it with such broadcast network losers as NBC’s “Watching Ellie” and ABC’s “Are You Hot?” As for FX’s “Nip and Tuck” -- one of this summer’s most buzzed-about cable offerings and already being mentioned for an Emmy nod next year -- its recent ratings would get it only to a tie for 91st place.