Fox Summer Strategy Pays Off in Ratings

Thanks to endless summer reruns on CBS, NBC and ABC, the Fox Broadcasting Co. scored its biggest ratings night in its three-year history Sunday, beating one of the Big 3 in prime time for the first time. And Fox executives expressed optimism Tuesday that their strategy of luring the young adult viewer has proven successful and that the fledgling fourth network would turn a substantial profit in the coming year.

Though far fewer people watch television during the dog days of summer than during the rest of the year, when original programming on all the networks abounds, Fox nonetheless pulled an 8 rating and 16% share of the available audience from 7-11 p.m. (where each rating point represents 904,000 homes). Fox beat ABC, which could manage only a 6.7 rating for the same time period with repeats of the long since canceled “Incredible Sunday” and “Have Faith.”

Fox countered the networks’ repeat programming with two original shows--”America’s Most Wanted” and its new series “Totally Hidden Video”--both of which finished second in their time period to CBS’s Top-10 rated “Murder, She Wrote.” Repeats of Fox’s regular Sunday night series including “21 Jump St.,” “Married . . . With Children” and “Duet” all registered some of their highest audience shares ever, as regular network viewers, disenchanted with stale network repeats, sampled Fox programs that they most likely missed the first time around.

Peter Chernin, president of Fox Broadcasting Entertainment Group, said that the network has posted significant ratings gains the past two summers against the Big 3’s reruns, and many of these new viewers have stayed with Fox into the subsequent television season.

Andy Fessel, Fox’s vice president of research and marketing, said the network showed a 37% ratings increase in its two nights of prime time programming from the 1987-88 season to the 1988-89 season. According to Fessel, ratings for Fox’s prime time programming this month are up more than 50% from last summer’s readings. Much of that increase is due to the success of “Cops,” which debuted last March and scored a 5.4 rating and a 13 share last Saturday.

The other networks seem to be taking note of Fox’s summer gains. Declining summer shares for the Big 3 prompted NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff to say this week that his network is looking to divert funds generally devoted to developing pilots, many of which never make the air, to producing original programming for summers to come.

Fox’s recent success is tied to the company’s strategy of fielding programs that appeal to a younger audience, the demographic group most desired by advertisers. “America’s Most Wanted,” “Totally Hidden Video” and “Married . . . With Children,” for example, were all No. 1 in their time periods Sunday for adults aged 18-49. Among adults 18-34, Chernin said that “Married . . . With Children” was the No. 2 rated show of all programs last week, behind only “Roseanne.”

“Our strategy to go after the younger adult viewer is two-fold,” Chernin said. “There is a premium placed on them by advertisers, and these are the people who are more likely to find our programs. Younger viewers are more adventuresome, more adventuresome technologically, and since we are on UHF stations in many markets, these are the people who are going to find different channels.”

While the share of this young adult audience controlled by ABC, NBC and CBS has fallen 9% since 1985, according to the A. C. Nielsen Co., Fox has been bragging that it has brought this demographic group back to broadcast television. With Fox factored into this past season, the four networks’ share of the 18-49 audience on Saturday and Sunday nights is up to 74% of the available audience, slightly higher than it was on the three networks in 1985.

And the young audience appeal has translated into financial viability. When Rupert Murdoch launched the network three years ago, Fox was greeted with derision and skepticism and a string of flops including, “Mr. President,” “Beans Baxter” and “Werewolf.” During the 1987-88 season, Fox lost $90 million.

This past season, Chernin said Fox completely turned itself around, earning a profit with its prime time programming on Saturday and Sunday nights. In September, Fox plans to expand to a third night of original programming on Mondays. Chernin said the network put much of its recent profits into the development of new programming and consequently the network ended this past season with a $3 million loss. But Chernin predicted that the network would turn a substantial profit in the coming year.

Meanwhile, Fox’s prime time success Sunday rubbed off on the Fox-owned KTTV Channel 11, which ended up as the No. 1 local station in prime time and for the entire day, beating all three network-owned stations. The station’s ratings were bolstered by “Married . . . With Children’s” astronomical 19.6 rating and 33% share of the local audience.