US network ratings slide as writers strike drags on

By Sue Zeidler

LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The 12-week-old Hollywood writers strike is taking a heavy toll on prime-time viewership with television production largely stopped and the major networks airing more repeats, game shows and reality shows.

The five top broadcast networks were down a collective 17 percent for the week ended Jan. 27 in ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49, the audience most prized by advertisers compared with the same week last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That is a sharp drop from earlier this season, before networks' supply of original sitcom and drama episodes ran dry and year-to-year ratings declines were running closer to 10 percent, network executives said.

Within weeks of the start of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike against major studios, work on most scripted prime-time shows ground to a halt.

The effects were largely unnoticed by viewers at first, as networks burned off a stockpile of original series programming, then filled their schedules with highly rated holiday specials and sports events through December and much of January.

Except for a handful of series the networks had saved for a winter "mid-season" launch, the cupboard of fresh episodes of scripted hits is bare.

News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Fox led network rivals again in the latest weekly ratings race due to the smash hit talent contest "American Idol" and a strong debut of its lie-detector reality show, "The Moment of Truth." But Fox still saw a drop of 13 percent among viewers 18 to 49 years of age from the same week last year.

Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) ABC posted a 21 percent year-to-year slide in its 18-49 score, without fresh episodes for hit shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives." Its most popular program was "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."