These were the most watched programs or events during the week of 12/7-12/13 on local cable networks in Kansas City:

1. ESPN – MNF: Baltimore @ Green Bay, Monday, December 7th
2. ESPN – College Basketball: Kansas @ La Salle, Saturday, December 12th
3. TNT – The Closer, Monday, December 7th
4. USA – WWE Entertainment, Monday, December 7th
5. ESPN – Heisman Trophy, Saturday, December 12th 7-8p
6. USA – WWE Entertainment, Monday, December 7th 8p-9p
7. ESPN – College Football: Appalachian State vs. Montana, Saturday, December 12th
8. BRAVO – Top Chef, Wednesday, December 9th 9-10p

Since sporting events and specials are so popular, these are some of the things that will be coming up that viewers will be watching:

· Big 12 Basketball (Current-Mar)
· SAG Awards (Jan. 23rd)
· NBA All-Star Weekend (Feb. 12th-14th)
· Winter Olympics (Feb. 12th-28th)
· NASCAR (Feb-Nov)
· LFRC Academy Awards (Mar. 7th)
· Royals (Mar-Sept)
· Kid’s Choice Awards (Mar) – 1-sheet coming soon

Other program news of note:
· Season 2 of Leverage continues January 13th on TNT.
· Southland premieres on TNT January 12th.
· The 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards air simultaneously on TBS and TNT January 23rd.
· TBS’s Lopez Tonight will air new episodes beginning January 11th.
· Season 3 of Bravo’s hit series Millionaire Matchmaker premieres January 19th.
· USA’s new drama White Collar has been picked up for a 2nd season. Season one continues Jan. 20th.

Source: Wikipedia

Is tomorrow Thanksgiving already?  This month has flown by!  I hope you’ve found yourself and your business as busy as I have.  Before I go for the holiday weekend, I wanted to share with you some of the most popular rated programs from earlier in the month.  Nielsen puts out these reports for us each week, but they now delay the information to include DVR viewing.  If a viewer watches a program within 7 days of the original airing, it counts towards the ratings.

The most watched advertising supported cable programs in Kansas City from November 9-15th were:

1. ESPN – MNF: Pittsburgh @ Denver, Monday, November 9^th 7:30p-10:45p – 13.3
2. USA – Monk, Friday, November 13^th 8p-9p – 7.0
3. COMEDY – The Daily Show, Wednesday, November 11^th 10p-10:30p – 5.8
4. LIFE – Project Runway, Thursday, November 12^th 9p-10p – 5.7
5. COMEDY – The Daily Show, Thursday, November 12^th 10p-10:30p – 5.5
6. COMEDY – The Daily Show, Tuesday, November 10^th 10p-10:30p – 4.9
7. USA – White Collar, Friday, November 13^th 9p-10p – 4.8

These top rated programs rate as high as many popular shows seen on regular broadcast channels, but are often a fraction of the price!  The ratings are based on the percentage of household viewers and are not based on any specific demographic.  Are you taking advantage of some of these great shows to invite the viewers to do business with you?

I’m looking forward to spending time with my family this weekend and enjoying all of the great food!  Have a great holiday weekend!

NPR had a great story following the latest Emmy awards and I wanted to direct your attention to it.  You can read it, or click their audio link here. 

Mad Men won again for Outstanding Drama Series for the second year in a row!  The premise of the article is about how there is more and more competition when it comes to video content either online or on TV, but for now, cable networks seem to be winning the battle and they’re doing it by creating the best content.  The author recommends that the broadcast networks go back to the basics and start running better shows.

Read or listen and give me your take.

ESPN released the match ups for this year’s Monday Night Football. All 12 playoff teams will appear in a Monday Night game. Sadly the 2-14 Kansas City Chiefs did not make the cut this year although they are making major changes in the team from the front office to the coaches and position players.

Preseason
8/13/09 Arizona @ Pittsburgh
8/17/09 Carolina @ NY Giants
8/24/09 NY Jets @ Baltimore
8/31/09 Minnesota @ Houston

Regular Season
9/14/09 Buffalo @ New England
9/14/09 San Diego @ Oakland
9/21/09 Indianapolis @ Miami
9/28/09 Carolina @ Dallas
10/5/09 Green Bay @ Minnesota
10/12/09 NY Jets @ Miami
10/19/09 Denver @ San Diego
10/26/09 Philadelphia @ Washington
11/2/09 Atlanta @ New Orleans
11/9/09 Pittsburgh @ Denver
11/16/09 Baltimore @ Cleveland
11/23/09 Tennessee @ Houston
11/30/09 New England @ New Orleans
12/7/09 Baltimore @ Green Bay
12/14/09 Arizona @ San Francisco
12/21/09 NY Giants @ Washington
12/28/09 Minnesota @ Chicago

We have packaged these games at the most aggressive pricing I have ever seen and supplement them with great Chiefs coverage on Metro Sports as well as popular NFL coverage on ESPN like Sunday Countdown. These games will sell out, so the earlier committment to the season, the better.

What other programming do you find successful for big reach and a captive audience?

Want to know what great programming to watch or advertise in this year? This is a list of last year’s top cable TV programs based on their average household rating.

1. The Closer (TNT)
2. Monday Night Football (ESPN)
3. Project Runway (Bravo)
4. Monk (USA)
5. Saving Grace (TNT)
6. Burn Notice (USA)
7. Top Chef (Bravo)
8. Design Star (HGTV)
9. In Plain Sight (USA)
10. Big 12 College Football (ESPN, ESPN2, FSMW)
11. Army Wives (Lifetime)
12. Psych (USA)
13. Top Design (Bravo)
14. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (USA)
15. Raising the Bar (TNT)
16. Shear Genius (Bravo)
17. Deadliest Catch (Discovery)
18. WWE Raw (USA)
19. Ice Road Truckers (History)
20. College Football Bowl Games (ESPN, ESPN2, FSMW)
21. Nip/Tuck (FX)
22. NASCAR (Sprint Cup Series)
23. Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)
24. Keeping Up With The Kardashians (E!)
25. Royals Baseball (FSMW)
26. Damages (FX)
27. My Boys (TBS)
28. Stargate Atlantis (Sci Fi)
29. The Bill Engvall Show (TBS)
30. MLB Playoffs (TBS)
31. House (USA)
32. Real Housewives of New York (Bravo)
33. Rescue Me (FX)
34. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
35. Sons of Anarchy (FX)
36. Testees (FX)
37. The Rachel Zoe Project (Bravo)
38. The Office (TBS)
39. The Starter Wife (USA)
40. My Name is Earl (TBS)
41. Mad Men (AMC)
42. American Chopper (TLC)
43. Make Me A Supermodel (Bravo)
44. Step It Up and Dance (Bravo)
45. The Shield (FX)
46. Breaking Bad (AMC)
47. The Riches (FX)
48. NASCAR (Nationwide Series)
49. NBA (TNT)
50. Rita Rocks (Lifetime)