CBS vs. ABC, NBC and Time Warner

On August 18th, Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer on CBS finished third behind Meet the Press (NBC) and This Week (ABC). It was a close race, but then it always is on the Sunday morning shows. On the 18th, NBC had 260,000 more viewers than CBS while ABC edged out the CBS perennial leader by 80,000 viewers. A month before, on July 28, Face the Nation, had 40,000 more viewers than ABC and almost half a million more than NBC.

Since the first of August, Face the Nation, hasn't been seen on Time Warner cable systems in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas as well as five other markets nationwide. It's estimated that 3.5 million homes can no longer view CBS programming.

I don't know how much damage Time Warner is inflicting on CBS or how much money CBS is costing Time Warner when it doesn't carry its product. But, I have little doubt that if Bob Schieffer was available in 3.5 million more homes, Face the Nation would still be in first place in the battle for Sunday morning news viewers.