LIVE SPORTS DOMINATE PRIMETIME VIEWING
Sports broadcasting accounted for one-third of all primetime viewership last month, up from just 11% in August. An increase was to be expected, with the start of nationally televised NFL and NCAA football, but it’s still noteworthy. Fifteen NFL games in September had the highest ratings of any content on broadcast TV and were also the top-five most-watched programs on cable. As media companies invest more money into broadcast rights and as advertiser demand continues to grow, commercial rates are on the rise. As an example, NBC is now paying $2.45 billion per year for the NBA and is charging an average of $130k per:30 in the regular season—way more than the $50,000 that TNT had been getting when it carried the games. (MediaPost: October 27, 2025)
BROADCAST TV VIEWERSHIP INCREASED IN SEPTEMBER
Once summer unofficially wrapped on Labor Day, people were back inside and watching broadcast TV. Nielsen’s latest The Gauge report is out, and it shows that broadcast viewership grew by 20% in September. It’s the largest monthly increase since Nielsen began publishing the report four years ago. Together, broadcast and cable totaled 44.6% of 2+ impressions, coming within around half a percent of the 45.2% represented by streaming. While much of this was driven by the NFL (see above), news content increased by 9% and made up a quarter of cable impressions. (Nielsen: October 21, 2025)
YOUNG PEOPLE DO WATCH TV
UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers has released its 2025 Teens & Screens report, and their findings show that despite what you may have heard, tweens, teens, and young adults are watching TV and movies. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed say they watch more than older generations think they do. Most fascinating is the insight into what they do and don’t want to see: for instance, more than 60% want to see depictions of romantic relationships that focus more on the couple’s friendship than on physical attraction. The key takeaway: young viewers are more interested in mature and relatable stories than we’ve perhaps been giving them credit for. (UCLA: October 22, 2025)
THIS WEEK IN VIDEO HISTORY
October 31, 2010 – The Zombie Apocalypse Begins
Fifteen Halloweens ago, AMC debuted The Walking Dead. Initially, the show focused on a small band of people trying to survive in a world overtaken by the undead. Over the course of its 11 seasons, it added more characters, some tangled plotlines, and expanded to a few spinoffs and video games. Fun fact: Across 177 episodes, no character ever said the word “Zombie.” “Walkers” was the most frequently used term. Watch the network’s pre-release promo.
