Primetime Cable Ratings: October 30, 2014

The whole idea of having CBS simulcast the first half of the THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL package was to build excitement and viewers for the night, and help boost the NFL Network numbers for the second half of the season. But, right out of the gate, the ratings for the first exclusive game were no any better than the game from one year ago. The Saints vs Panthers game collected 6.9 million viewers and a 2.3 rating in Adults 18-49. That is just 400,000 more viewers, from last year, and a drop of two tenths of a ratings point, in the demo. The NFL either needs to sale of the entire package to one of the networks, or keep the package for only itself. The experiment did not produce the desired results, in the end.

TNT got some good numbers for its NBA coverage, getting four million viewers for the return home (Cleveland) game for Lebron James. The game was also the #2 program in the A18-49 demographic, with a 1.7 score.

PAWN STARS, the #4 program, was the best rated regular cable series on the night, hauling in 2.7 million viewers. The second episodes was right behind it, getting 10K less viewers. A total of four episodes made the chart and PAWN STARS averaged 2.2 million viewers and a 0.5 demo rating.

Rank	Show	Net	Time	Viewers*	A18-49
1	TNF (NO v CAR)	NFL	8:30 PM	6.88	2.3
2	College Football Prime	ESPN	7:30 PM	4.97	1.6
3	NBA Basketball	TNT	8:00 PM	4.02	1.7
4	Pawn Stars	HIST	9:00 PM	2.68	0.6
5	The O'Reilly Factor	FOXN	8:00 PM	2.67	0.2
6	Pawn Stars	HIST	9:30 PM	2.67	0.7
7	TNF Pre-Kick	NFL	8:00 PM	2.36	0.7
8	NBA Basketball	TNT	10:45 PM	2.10	1.0
9	The Kelly File	FOXN	9:00 PM	2.08	0.2
10	The Big Bang Theory	TBS	10:30 PM	2.03	0.8
11	Law & Order: SVU	USA	8:00 PM	1.96	0.6
12	The Big Bang Theory	TBS	10:00 PM	1.93	0.8
13	Pawn Stars	HIST	10:00 PM	1.80	0.5
14	Pawn Stars	HIST	8:30 PM	1.71	0.4
15	Law & Order: SVU	USA	9:00 PM	1.67	0.5

* - in millions