Goldman Sachs, Fox, News Corp., CBS, Viacom, Comcast, NBC, Disney, ABC

Football continues to show considerable strength this season, buoying network ratings, Goldman Sachs. CBS, the Viacom- VIA owned network, led the broadcast nets by a wide margin last week, garnering a 4.9 rating (+109% yoy). “The large increase was driven by the record-setting NFL playoff game featuring the Jets vs. Steelers, which attracted 55 mn viewers, making it the most watched AFC Championship ever,” Goldman Sachs writes. “Thanks to the AFC Championship lead-in, Hawaii Five-O posted a 5.6 rating, 50% above the season-to-date (STD) average rating.” Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs says that American Idol, which is now in its 10th season, was down from last year. “Despite the decline, FOX NWSA easily won both nights and finished the week in second place with a 3.6 rating,” Goldman Sachs adds. “This is the first season that Idol has aired on Thursday, an especially competitive night on television. Against Idol's mammoth audience, CBS' comedy block was fairly resilient, with $#*! My Dad Says in-line with its STD average and The Big Bang Theory up 11%.” Finally, Goldman Sachs said that NBC, which has recently been approved for the Comcast CMCSA merger, experienced solid ratings during its 2011 “Comedy Night Done Right” premiere. “The Office posted a 4.5 rating, 50% above the STD average. Parks and Recreation's 3.2 rating was a series high, while 30 Rock was 35% above the STD average,” Goldman Sachs writes. “However, Outsourced fell to a series low. ABC's DIS Wipeout took the biggest hit from Idol, with its 2.6 rating, 21% below the STD average.”