TV Ratings Fall Faster Than Snow

The snow keeps falling and CBS is paying the price in its ratings.

CBS coverage Monday night, hurt by the postponement of Picabo Street’s debut, got a 14.8 rating and a 23 share, lower than any night of coverage from the last two Winter Games. The rating is 34.4% lower than the 21.8 on the first Monday in 1994 and 22.5% lower than the 19.1 rating from 1992.

Through the first four nights, CBS is averaging a 16.0 rating, 15.8% lower than the 19.0 after the first four nights in 1992 and 33.3% lower than the 24.0 in 1994.

A rating point for CBS represents 980,000 households, or 1% of the nation’s estimated 98 million TV homes. Share is the percentage of televisions tuned to a given show.

TNT’s cable rating also fell, as it got a 1.1 rating Monday as opposed to a 1.5 in 1994 and 2.1 in 1992. TNT’s rating is based on 73 million homes.