ABC rides Olympics to sweeps victory

Strong showing for network bolsters its number-two position in prime time race; Olympics-based victory will not affect advertising buys, say agencies

ABC won the February sweeps. It registered its first sweeps victory in four years on the strength of its 52 hours of prime time Olympics coverage (accounting for 59% of prime time during the sweeps). Executives at NBC and CBS, which placed second and third, respectively, were quick to suggest that ABC's was something of a hollow victory because agency buyers will discount the Olympics, numbers (or discard them altogether, considering just the non-Olympics sweeps numbers) in determining future buys.

Nevertheless, the strong Olympics showing solidified ABC's season-to-date hold on second place in the prime time network ratings. If CBS is to catch up and retake second place for the season, it will have to outperform ABC by an average of between 1.4 and 1.6 rating points for the last seven weeks of the season, according to David Poltrack, vice president, marketing, CBS. If it does not, CBS will find itself in third place for the first time ever in the regular-season prime time race.

According to the Nielsen peoplemeter numbers, ABC won the Nielsen sweep period (Feb. 4-March 2) with an average 17.3/27. NBC was second with a 15.9/25 and CBS third with 14.1/22. According to AGB, ABC was first with a 16.9/26, followed by NBC, 15.6/24, and CBS, 14/22. For the Arbitron sweep period (Feb. 3-March 1), Nielsen put ABC on top with a 17.3/27, NBC second, 15.9/25, and CBS third, 13.8/21. (Arbitron provides market-by-market figures that won't be available until next month. The Nielsen and AGB figures reported here are national.) AGB reported ABC with a 16.9/26, NBC,...