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Viewers spend more time watching movies on basic cable than anywhere else on the small screen.
Basic-cable channels accounted for two-thirds of the time people spent watching movies on TV in the last three months, according to research compiled by Turner Broadcasting executives using data from Nielsen Media Research.
For pay-cable channels such as HBO and Showtime, the figure was 23 percent; the broadcast networks' share of viewers' movie time was 12.3 percent.
The finding is the result of a growing trend by basic cable channels toward boosting their output of original movies and buying the rights to big-budget theatrical films.
"If you ask people which networks they get their movies from today, they'll say basic cable networks," said Jack Wakshlag, chief research officer for Turner Broadcasting. "I think the profile of the broadcast networks has become dramas, sitcoms, newsmagazine shows and reality shows."
In the last few years, the broadcast networks have dramatically scaled back the number of theatrical and original movies in prime time.
For example, in 1996, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox aired 264 made-for- TV movies, according to Tim Brooks, co-author of "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows" and Lifetime's top research executive. In 2000, the number was 146.
In contrast, an assortment of basic cable channels made 54 original movies in 1996 and 81 original films in 2000.
Meanwhile, both reruns of theatrical films and first-run broadcasts of original movies have won sizable ratings for basic cable channels, many of which have had less success launching original series than have broadcast networks.
The debut of the feature film "Rush Hour" on TBS delivered 7.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched theatrical movie on basic cable last year, according...