Weblets Put a Big Dent in the Ratings of Major Networks.

Results of the television industry's November sweeps period were released last week, and the weblets turned in a stunning performance.

With tightly focused programming aimed at young men and women, both UPN and the WB posted double-digit gains in the crucial 18-to-49-year-old adult demographic so coveted by advertisers.

Meanwhile, three of the big four networks lost viewers in that key category. Only NBC, which won the four-week sweeps period with a 5.7 rating, saw an increase that amounted to just 6 percent. ABC posted a 14 percent decline, while CBS slipped 5 percent, and Fox fell by 4 percent from the same period last year.

Overall in the period, the WB's signature shows -- "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "7th Heaven" and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" -- eclipsed previous bests and boosted the network's ratings among adults 18 to 49 by 19 percent over last year.

Evidence that the WB is attracting its intended target audience, young women, the weblet posted a 28 percent gain in 18-to-34-year-old women viewers.

Thanks to a dramatic last-night surge, the WB swept past CBS to finish fourth among that demographic group in the November sweeps, besting one of the top four networks for the first time.

"That's huge," said Brad Turell, executive vice president of network communications at the WB. "We've never beaten any network in any demographic in any sweeps -- ever."

Meanwhile, Viacom's UPN also pushed around the big four, scoring a 13 percent increase in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Jerry Isenberg of the USC School of Film and Television said the WB and UPN are finding success because of their narrow focus on a young audience.

"They are much more focused on that age group. They are narrower-casted networks," Isenberg said. "The gains at both networks have to be a quality issue or a schedule issue. As the quality of programming is improving, they are reaching that audience."

The WB ascended on the backs of female-oriented programming that posted sweeps bests. "Felicity," on shaky ground after performing poorly in 1999, bounced back with a 2.0 rating among adults 18 to 49. Meanwhile, "7th Heaven" (3.5), "Buffy" (2.6), "Angel" (2.5) and "Roswell" (1.9) also helped carry the network in that demographic. (One rating point equals 1.24 million viewers.)

UPN, on the other hand, beat the WB in all male demographic categories and finished third among male teens, behind Fox and ABC. UPN shows such as "WWF Smackdown," "The Parkers" and "The Hughleys" drove the network's success, according to Paul McGuire, UPN's senior vice president of publicity.

"The Hughleys," a UPN pickup from ABC, has done well on Monday nights. Helped by "Moesha" at 8 p.m., and the Kelsey Grammar-produced "Girlfriends" at 9:30 p.m., Monday nights were up 21 percent over last year among women 18 to 34.

UPN's 13-percent gain in November is a continuation of the success the network has been enjoying for the past 18 months. "We had already been smiling; it makes our smile bigger, I guess," said UPN Chief Operating Officer Adam Ware.

The WB officials were smiling last week, as well.

"We are pretty happy, big-picture-wise," said Jack Wakshlag, senior vice president of research at the WB. "The (new) shows are performing better than the shows they replaced. The (returning) shows are creatively stronger."

With viewers come advertisers, and Wakshlag said he'll leave the light on for them. "If you're talking about double-digit gains in ratings, you would expect your revenue to go up that much," he said.

In fact, the WB expects to post record advertising revenue for the current quarter, according to Turell. He said scatter sales -- advertising spots sold separately from the traditional annual media buy -- should approach $25 million. Industry experts are projecting the WB's overall advertising revenues to be more than $100 million for the quarter.

Over at UPN it's a similar story. While Ware declined to talk numbers or percentages, he said UPN's gains mean advertisers are getting exposed to a bigger audience than they paid for, and the network has more airtime for scatter sales.

"We're seeing ratings growth and advertisers' interest increasing," Ware said. "We're up double-digits in scatter."

Among those increases in new ad sales, UPN is selling time to advertisers that haven't traditionally come to the network, including Mattel Inc., Capital One Financial Corp. and Walt Disney Co.

UPN takes the November numbers as a clear sign it is out of the woods after a horrible 1998, Ware said. The network improved last year, but there was concern about longevity.

"Our feeling is, this is not a fluke, that UPN has really tapped into an audience," Ware said. "There's erosion among all the networks, broadcast or cable, but we're not experiencing that."

The key for both weblets, Ware said, is that they are positioned to exploit an emerging demographic.

"What's really starting to emerge from this is we're starting to tap into a youth culture that people call urban," Ware said. "It doesn't matter if it's Snoop Dogg or Kid Rock. There is a culture going on in the U.S. that is not color-based. It's age-based."