The decline in viewing on most cable networks continued in 2023. The decline is due to the prevalence of cable cuts related to premium content and the fact that audiences are abandoning cable TV for streaming platforms. Also, in 2023, any original scripted content will still air. On cable television it was affected by interruptions of the paintings of writers and actors. As a result, in 2023, for the first time in recent memory, no cable network painting maintained an average prime-time audience of more than two million viewers.
Audience erosion follows existing trends. According to Nielsen, last year alone, Fox News averaged more than two million viewers. Ten years ago, when cable cutting and video streaming were in their infancy, there were six cable networks averaging more than two million prime-time viewers; USA. ESPN, Disney Channel, History Channel, TNT, and TBS. Additionally, in 2023, only 3 cable networks had an average viewership of over one million viewers, up from five in 2022. For comparison, in 2013, there were 19 cable networks. with an average of more than one million viewers.
According to Variety, which published the ratings, in 2023, Fox News, despite a year-over-year average viewership drop of 20%, was, once again, the highest-rated cable network, with an average of 1. 9 million viewers. An eventful year for Fox News: In April, the network fired Tucker Carlson, the host of its prime-time primetime show. The resolution led to a reorganization of prime-time programming. In addition, during the year, Fox News settled two lawsuits with the manufacturer. Abby Grossman and Dominion Voting Systems.
CNN, another leading cable news network, reported a 20% year-over-year decline in viewership, averaging 591,000 viewers. Like Fox News, CNN also revamped its prime-time programming in the middle of the year. After a brief tenure, CNN President Chris Licht left the news channel. MSNBC is the only major news network that has increased its average prime-time audience by a modest 2%, to 1. 22 million viewers.
A few smaller cable news networks fared better in 2023. For example, Newsmax grew by 22% to 225,000 and Nexstar’s NewsNation was up by 72% to 109,000. The programming highlight for NewsNation had been televising the fourth Republican Presidential debate in December, which set a network high 1.59 million viewers. With 2024 an important election year, the audience delivery for cable news networks will be expected to increase.
For long-established cable entertainment networks, primetime viewership declines continued, with content consisting primarily of non-network programming, theatrical feature films, and, in some cases, live sports. TNT reported a 3% drop to 938,000, while its sister network TBS fell 10% to 786,000. USA Network’s average primetime audience reported a 7% decline, averaging 688,000 viewers. Hallmark Channel, which averaged more than a million viewers in primetime, reported a 10% decline in 2023, with an average primetime audience of 929,000.
Other well-known, large-scale cable entertainment networks have noticed even steeper declines in viewership. For example, in 2023, Lifetime’s average audience dropped 25% to an average audience of 443,000 people. The average audience for A
Also, AMC, which has not found a suitable replacement for The Walking Dead, averaged 369,000 primetime viewers, a year-over-year falloff of 21%. Due to the work stoppage, there were no original episodes of the top-rated Yellowstone airing in 2023. As a result, the primetime audience for The Paramount Network fell by 30% to 346,000. (In 2022, Paramount Network ratings grew by 8%.) Original episodes of Yellowstone are scheduled to return in November. Freeform was one of the cable networks that, in the aftermath of their carriage dispute with Disney, was pulled by MVPD Charter in September. In 2023 Freeform reported a decline in primetime audience of 16%, averaging 254,000 viewers.
As for the other leading cable networks, ESPN’s viewership fell 9% to 1. 7 million viewership. HGTV’s average viewership fell 13% to less than a million viewership to 943,000. The History channel’s average fell 7% to 775,000 people. TLC’s viewership fell 23%. The Discovery Channel’s average fell 14% to 703,000. TV Food Network also reported a 14% drop in viewership, with an average of 675,000 viewers. Viewership for Bravo and the Investigation Discovery Network fell to a more modest 4%, averaging 571,000 viewers and 546,000 viewers, respectively.
As viewership and content shift to streaming, Variety also generates a significant decrease in the amount of viewership paying premium cable networks like HBO, Showtime, and Starz. All three saw year-over-year declines of 25% or more. Youth-oriented cable networks also continued their steep declines, adding Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network, all of which saw abundant declines through 2022. So, cable TV’s troubles in 2023 aren’t over. limited to regional sports networks.
Not every entertainment cable network however, suffered declines in viewing. The Reelzchannel continues to increase its audience defying trends. In 2023 the cable network averaged 337,000 viewers, a year-over-year increase of 34%. In 2022 the average audience of the Reelzchannel had more than doubled (+107%) compared to 2021.
While eMarketer predicts that TV advertising dollars will grow 22% in 2024 to reach $30 billion, the loss of cable TV viewing will result in a loss of ad revenue. Last year, Scott Robson, senior research analyst at S.