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14
NEWS CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT 2004
The FOX network finished the
2003-2004 broadcast season in
the most competitive position in
its 18-year history. FOX beat two
of the oldest U.S. networks – ABC
and CBS – and was edged out of
first place by NBC by just one-
tenth of a ratings point in the key
18 to 49 age group.
But among teenagers and
those aged 18 to 34 – demo-
graphics highly coveted by adver-
tisers – FOX was a clear number
one. In fact, among teens, FOX’s
ratings were 71 percent higher
than its nearest competitor, the
widest margin in the history of
electronic ratings measurement.
In its third hit season,
American
Idol
ended the television season
as the number one program on
primetime television. Compared to
its phenomenal second-season
performance,
American Idol
’s rat-
ings were up 10 percent among
18 to 49 year olds and 16 percent
in total viewers, confirming the
show’s status as a cultural phe-
nomenon in the U.S.
The
American Idol
finale deliv-
ered FOX’s third-highest rated
night of entertainment program-
ming ever among 18 to 49 year
olds and total viewers, behind
only last year’s
Joe Millionaire
finale and last year’s
American
Idol
finale.
In a year when critics bemoaned
the death of comedy, FOX’s new
comedy
Arrested Development
was
the most critically lauded freshman
series of the season. Meanwhile,
The O.C.
was the number one new
scripted series of the television
season in both adult 18 to 34 and
teen demographics.
The FOX network’s entertain-
ment slate was complemented
by the impressive results for
FOX Sports programming in the
2003-2004 season. For seven
consecutive years, FOX Sports has
been the highest-rated sports
network in television.
This past season, FOX Sports
posted improved ratings in all
three of its major sports proper-
ties. NFC football on FOX out-rated
CBS’s AFC package by 8 percent
and, for the second year in a
row, FOX’s national NFL games
out-delivered ABC’s Monday Night
Football by 12 percent. NASCAR
on FOX continued to be the sec-
ond highest-rated regular season
sport on television, with only
NFL programming rating higher.
FOX’s NASCAR regular season rat-
ings more than doubled ABC’s
NBA regular season ratings, the
biggest margin ever between the
two sports.
Most impressive was the 2003
performance of the Major League
Baseball postseason on FOX,
highlighted by both the American
League and National League
Championship Series going a
full seven games. FOX’s 24
post-season MLB broadcasts
averaged a 28 percent increase
in ratings over the previous sea-
son, and were the highest-rated
MLB post-season on any network
since 1995.
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