A18-49+ Update: Originals vs. Repeats, Comedies vs. Dramas in 2016-17

Here's a look at the different types of programming in 2016-17. This post will combine the broad programming categories (originals, repeats, sports, specials, movies) as well as the sub-categories within the original series realm (comedies, dramas, reality, news).

Big Four Category Ratings

Year	Overall	Originals	Repeats	Specials	Movies	Sports
2001-02	98	100	81	92	76	157
2002-03	93	100	75	86	64	135
2003-04	94	100	75	93	66	159
2004-05	94	100	69	85	63	159
2005-06	92	100	65	81	54	146
2006-07	91	100	60	92	52	136
2007-08	90	100	55	84	54	152
2008-09	93	100	53	92	52	162
2009-10	96	100	50	108	47	196
2010-11	93	100	51	98	47	199
2011-12	97	100	50	101	45	223
2012-13	98	100	49	104	47	229
2013-14	103	100	47	113	49	250
2014-15	102	100	47	118	50	254
2015-16	108	100	51	116	52	270
2016-17	116	100	56	137	62	307

The league average decline was so brutal in 2016-17 that literally every other category had a huge jump relative to the original average... even things like repeats and movies!

Big Four Category Real Estate

Year	Originals	Repeats	Specials	Movies	Sports
2001-02	58%	13%	6%	14%	8%
2002-03	62%	14%	5%	13%	6%
2003-04	61%	19%	4%	11%	5%
2004-05	63%	20%	5%	8%	5%
2005-06	62%	20%	3%	8%	7%
2006-07	63%	23%	3%	5%	6%
2007-08	61%	23%	3%	5%	7%
2008-09	65%	19%	6%	4%	6%
2009-10	62%	22%	4%	4%	8%
2010-11	64%	21%	4%	4%	6%
2011-12	66%	20%	4%	2%	7%
2012-13	64%	21%	6%	2%	8%
2013-14	62%	20%	6%	2%	9%
2014-15	66%	18%	6%	3%	8%
2015-16	66%	17%	6%	2%	9%
2016-17	65%	16%	6%	3%	10%

But this isn't to suggest that repeats are making a comeback; in fact, for the third year in a row, they were down to their lowest levels since 2002-03. I maintain this is part of the reason why the repeat average has had a bit of a comeback; only the good ones are surviving. As always, it's worth keeping in mind that repeats were only so low at the beginning of the era because movies were so viable. The "repeats+movies" average was still stuck at one of its lowest totals of the era.

Another interesting note here is that sports ticked into double digits for the first time in the entire era. With Winter Olympics on tap next year, there is no sign of that trend ending.

Big Four Original Sub-Category Ratings

Year	Comedy	Drama	Reality	News
2001-02	121	104	98	72
2002-03	116	97	127	66
2003-04	101	96	141	66
2004-05	82	113	116	61
2005-06	77	111	120	60
2006-07	84	107	119	58
2007-08	98	101	111	61
2008-09	101	100	116	62
2009-10	101	99	116	61
2010-11	110	94	121	61
2011-12	117	94	114	59
2012-13	103	94	120	65
2013-14	101	94	118	71
2014-15	107	95	119	70
2015-16	100	96	117	77
2016-17	108	91	123	79

2016-17 saw another significant swing from drama back toward comedy, with big expansions on the two strongest comedy networks (ABC/CBS). Though American Idol went out of the mix, Fox mostly just replaced it with scripted stuff, and very healthy seasons from most of the staples meant the average for the remaining reality staples was also on the upswing. It's not a huge departure from where it's been for the last 10 years, but the 123 reality average was still the highest since 2003-04.
 

Big Four Original Sub-Category Real Estate

Year	Comedy	Drama	Reality	News
2001-02	21%	44%	14%	21%
2002-03	19%	42%	19%	20%
2003-04	21%	41%	19%	20%
2004-05	16%	41%	26%	17%
2005-06	16%	45%	23%	15%
2006-07	11%	48%	26%	15%
2007-08	9%	40%	38%	12%
2008-09	11%	49%	28%	12%
2009-10	13%	45%	30%	12%
2010-11	14%	43%	30%	13%
2011-12	16%	41%	30%	12%
2012-13	19%	40%	29%	12%
2013-14	20%	44%	27%	9%
2014-15	15%	50%	24%	11%
2015-16	15%	51%	24%	10%
2016-17	17%	51%	21%	10%

As mentioned on the Networks post, Fox's departure from reality programming has been staggering, and it is most of the reason why the reality real estate fell to its lowest level since the very early years of Idol. And the aforementioned ABC/CBS comedy expansions saw a couple points go into that total. Overall, this adds up to an unprecedented imbalance between scripted and unscripted programming; after many years of about a 60% scripted/40% unscripted mix, we are now getting closer to 70/30.

Here's the now updated A18-49+ programming categories post.

Here's the now updated A18-49+ original sub-categories post.