An analysis by the media research group TVB showed that cable television viewership dropped significantly this summer. During the last few years, cable television viewership rose significantly during the summer months when broadcast networks usually showed reruns.

This year, the expected bump in cable television viewership did not materialize as broadcast television attracted large audiences throughout the summer.

In the critical demographic of 25-54-year-old adults and households with two or more persons, the viewership of cable programming declined in the summer of 2012 from the previous year.  TVB’s report indicated that all of the major cable stations experienced some form of decline in returning shows.

Furthermore, many new shows that were introduced this year failed to draw audiences as large as those for returning shows.

Although the Summer Olympics did detract from some cable viewership, telecasts on the broadcast networks that were not sports-related also far outpaced those on cable stations. More than 95 percent of the top one hundred telecasts during the summer season were found on the broadcast networks.

The original programming that cable networks broadcast did not gain dominance until the bottom half of the top 200.

There were a few cable shows which drew large audiences like History’s “Hatfields & McCoys,” which drew 2.8 million viewers in the 25-54 age group. Shows like these also helped buoy a rise in cable viewership of the top 10 cable channel viewership. While the four major broadcast networks witnessed a 2-percent increase in 18-49 viewership, the top 10 cable channels also experienced a 2-percent rise among the same demographic.