Fox Surges Ahead Of Abc 28-Day Ratings Sweep Proves Network’s Worth

The Big Three? Make that the Big Four.

In another clear sign that television’s balance of power has shifted, the Fox network catapulted into third place last month, the first time it has drawn more total viewers during a “sweeps” period than one of the established networks.

“This shows that, for the first time ever, there is truly a four-network playing field,” said TV historian Alex McNeil, author of “Total Television.”

During the 28-day ratings sweeps that ended Wednesday night, Fox drew half-a-million more viewers than ABC even though Fox’s primetime programs are carried on 48 fewer affiliate stations than ABC’s.

Moreover, with such shows as “Ally McBeal,” “The X-Files,” “The Simpsons,” and “Party of Five” exerting a strong pull on young viewers, Fox was the No. 1 network overall among adults ages 18 to 34 and among teenagers.

More predictably, CBS rode its Olympics coverage to a first-place finish in total viewers and households, followed by NBC.

But the story that had the TV industry buzzing late last week, and Fox executives crowing, was the upstart network’s ratings surge.

“No matter how large the obstacles, our strategy is working,” said Fox President Peter Roth.

Just 11 years ago Fox debuted to widespread disdain and predictions of an early demise. The launch of a fourth network by Rupert Murdoch and Barry Diller was seen as foolhardy, and skepticism grew when Fox rolled out such programs as the raunchy “Married … With Children.”

But Fox steadily gained audience share by tailoring its programming to audiences that were given short shrift by the Big Three, such as minorities and teenagers.

The real breakthrough, however, came in 1993, when Fox snatched NFC broadcast rights away from CBS.

“The single event that turned it around was the NFL contract,” said Steve Grubbs, executive vice president of national broadcast buying for BBDO Inc., a New York-based ad agency. “At that point, the perception by the viewing public was, ‘Wow. It’s no longer just three networks.”’

But until Thursday, that perception had not been as decisively quantified during a sweeps period, a monthlong period during which networks go all out, with miniseries and movies, to hike prime-time ratings. Those ratings help determine advertising rates the networks are able to charge.

February, along with May and November, are considered the three most important sweeps periods of the year.

Fox finished ahead of ABC in the number of total viewers each night, drawing 12.2 million viewers to ABC’s 11.7 million. An average of 20.9 million tuned in to CBS, while 13.6 million watched NBC on an average night.