Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) delivered five nights of more than a 50 percent share of primetime cable viewing among Adults 18-49 across ad-supported cable during the first quarter of 2024. Ratings drivers included TNT Sports’ coverage of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament in March as well as Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Food Network’s Tournament of Champions and Wildcard Kitchen and Adult Swim’s Ninja Kamui. During the quarter, WBD’s popular lifestyle, entertainment, sports and news brands—including CNN, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, TBS, TNT, TLC, Adult Swim and OWN—also outperformed competitors with ten nights of more than a 40 percent share of primetime cable viewing among Adults.
Attracting more than 142 million total viewers on average each month, WBD’s US Networks accounted for viewing by nearly one-third of Adults who watched cable during prime. Passionate viewers kept five of the coveted brands—TBS, TNT, TLC, Food Network, and HGTV—among the top 10 of ad-supported cable networks, with TBS also ranking as the #1 cable entertainment network in total day and prime among Adults. Successful unscripted freshman series in Q1 included: Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (#3, ID), Wildcard Kitchen (#6, Food Network), Hustlers Gamblers Crooks (#8, Discovery), Love & Translation (#9, TLC) and Stupid Pet Tricks (#10, TBS).
“Our true crime series like Quiet on Set and The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks have worked well across platforms, and we’ve seen a similar performance with our adult animation titles like Ninja Kamui,” said Kathleen Finch, Chairman and CEO, US Networks, Warner Bros. Discovery. “These big hits, along with the performance of our freshman series and live premium sports offerings, laid the groundwork for us to attract a significant share of the available nightly cable audience this quarter.”
Q1 2024 performance highlights for brands at Warner Bros. Discovery included:
- TBS ranked as the #1 cable entertainment network in total day and prime among Adults 25-54. The Big Bang Theory remains cable’s #1 acquired series among Adults.
- TNT secured the #1 rank for cable entertainment networks in prime among Adults 18-49. TNT Sports’ coverage of NBA All-Star 2024 in February delivered a 25 percent ratings increase among Adults versus one year ago, including the #1 telecasts on TV respectively on Saturday, Feb. 17 (NBA All-Star Saturday Night) and Sunday, Feb. 18 (2024 NBA All-Star Game). And, popular AEW Dynamite, AEW Collision and AEW Rampage reached nearly four million viewers each week across TNT and TBS.
- TLC claimed the rank as the #1 ad-supported primetime cable network without sports among Adults and Women on Monday nights for the third consecutive quarter. 90 Day: The Single Life delivered its highest-rated season among Adults, and 90 Day Diaries garnered its highest-rated season in four years among Adults and Women. TLC maintained its position as the #1 primetime cable network on Sunday nights among Adults and Women, bolstered by 90 Day Fiancé and 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After.
- CNN brought in strong audience numbers across television, streaming and digital platforms in Q1 2024, ranking in the top 5 of the most watched networks in all of cable, marking the 7th consecutive quarter and 10th consecutive month in the top 5 for People 2+. Among Adults 25-54, CNN ranked in the top 10 among all cable networks for the quarter. Further, CNN reached the most viewers in cable news in the first quarter among both People 2+ and Adults 25-54.
- Adult Swim, a top 5 cable network among Adults, garnered a 23 percent increase in prime ratings among Adults in Q1—the highest gain of the top 30 cable networks. Ninja Kamui, a new original series in the Saturday Toonami block, was up 21 percent versus year-ago levels, while the second season of Royal Crackers delivered 32 percent ratings growth versus last year.
- With season-over-season ratings growth for nearly all its returning series, Discovery Channel owned four of the top 10 unscripted cable series among Men—more than any other network. Mystery at Bling Frog Ranch delivered its highest-rated season ever, while Gold Rush was Friday night’s #1 non-sports cable program among Adults and Men. Discovery was the #3 primetime non-news/sports cable network among Men in the first quarter.
- ID ended Q1 as the #1 cable network without news or sports in total day among Women. True crime series continued to drive huge audiences, with The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks attracting more than 11 million viewers and Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV reaching more than 20 million viewers across linear and streaming.
- Food Network, a top 5 ad-supported cable network in prime among Women, saw first quarter ratings success with Tournament of Champions, Worst Cooks in America and Spring Baking Championship. Fan-favorite series Beat Bobby Flay, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Chopped also delivered quarter-over-quarter ratings growth, while freshman series Wildcard Kitchen garnered a 45 percent ratings increase among Adults over prior six-week levels.
- HGTV ranked as a top 10 non-news/sports ad-supported cable network among Women every night of the week in prime. Rock the Block is on track to deliver HGTV’s highest-rated series year-to-date among Adults and Women with strong double-digit ratings gains over the prior six weeks. And, Renovation Aloha was the network’s highest-rated freshman series in a year.
- Driven by the latest season of Ready to Love, OWN was Friday night’s #1 non-sports cable network among African-American Women. In Q1, Love & Marriage: Huntsville and Love & Marriage: DC were the top 2 original cable series on Saturday nights across all of television among African-American Adults and African-American Women.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of branded content across television, film, streaming and gaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, Max, discovery+, CNN, DC, TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.
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Media Contacts:
Chelsey Riemann / chelsey.riemann@wbd.com / 865-607-4188
Alexa Butterman / alexa.butterman@wbd.com / 516-297-8946