Audiences Falling Sharply For MTV, Comedy Central

The pain at Viacom Inc.’s VIAB -1.74% children’s cable network has spread to its grown-up channels.

Just as Nickelodeon is showing signs of pulling out of a severe ratings slump, trouble has emerged at a couple of Viacom’s other key networks.

Comedy Central’s prime-time audience fell 19% in the four weeks through Oct. 21, while MTV’s viewership declined 32% in the same period, according to Nielsen.

Signs of slight ratings erosion were evident at both channels earlier this year, but the recent numbers show a much greater decline. So far this year, Comedy Central’s average daily viewership is down 10% while MTV’s is off 18%. Nickelodeon’s audience, meanwhile, is down 23% for the year to date although the drop-off in September was narrower than in previous months.

Many big cable and broadcast networks have seen sharp ratings declines in recent weeks, amid a broader drop in overall television viewing. Time Warner‘sTWX +0.11% TBS and Comcast CMCSA +3.30% Corp’s USA are both down 13% in the four weeks through Oct. 21, for instance.

Some in the TV industry say television viewing is fragmenting among different outlets, such as on-demand and the Internet. Such viewership isn’t measured as part of traditional TV ratings, which makes it harder to sell ads on these outlets.

Viacom, whose portfolio of channels includes VH1, CMT and Spike, has been particularly hard hit by the audience drop-off. Fourteen of the 16 channels in the MTV and Nickelodeon families had viewership declines in September, according to Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Todd Jeunger, citing Nielsen data.

MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon are of most concern to investors. The three account for roughly 50% of Viacom’s operating profit, estimates David Bank of RBC Capital Markets.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204005004578081250039467718.html