The domination of cable news demonstrates how far cable viewing has moved from a more balanced diet of programming options across a wide variety of genres ranging from sports to scripted dramas and comedies. The 83% figure is also representative of how news-loving older viewers are heavily concentrated in aggregate TV watchingStripping away older viewers and running the same analysis among the top 5,000 ranked shows among 18-49s tells a different story.
Cable news fare is still the most popular genre in 2021 to date, almost trebling from 2016’s level in raw numbers, accounting for 36% of the top 5,000 . But several genres that barely register among total viewers are better represented among 18-49 viewers. Reality shows have fallen, from 42% of share to 32%, but they still account for a considerable number of most-watched shows among 18-49s.
Sports saw small increases in its share among 18-49s, both for live events and studio or talk shows . Overall, sports content accounts for 30% of the most watched shows, just behind cable news, with Sportscenter alone amounting to 5% of shows. Much as was seen in VIP+’sOne genre that has fallen heavily among both demos is drama. There were 407 dramas in the top 5,000 shows of 2016 for 18-49s, a number that fell 64% in 2021.
Some key content will remain on cable for in order to extend the life of the revenue streams from advertising and affiliate fees for as long as possible. But as will be seen in VIP+’s upcoming analysis of peak-TV trends for 2021, other genres — drama, comedy, even anime — have already begun to migrate to streaming platforms as viewing patterns change. The result is that the cable package of 2030 will be radically different than what you see today.
The"Fading Ratings" report, which will include analysis of the top 1,000 most watched shows, key genre breakdowns and distribution by networks, will be available only to VIP+ subscribers.
Geez...old story