Network viewership is up

The fall TV season is off to a good start, with prices for 30-second spot ads nearing all-time highs, reports Ad Age. In the first week, there were 42.3 million viewers, compared with 40.7 million last year. Among the explanations: higher-priced talent, costlier productions (see Monday morning headlines) and better tie-ins with other platforms, such as online and video-on-demand. Viewers even seem to be watching the commercials.

The initial data show broadcast commercial ratings to be much more stable than cable's, and that more broadcast viewers stick around through the ad breaks than cable viewers. The drop from programming ratings means that, with fewer ratings points to go around, broadcasters can most likely command greater costs per thousand.