Testosterone TV: What Shows Are Most Watched By Men?

The television landscape has splintered, with niche networks now catering to every conceivable demographic and interest. But amid the clutter, there is one large yet elusive constituency that advertisers still pay a premium to reach: men, especially young men. That's because males still watch less television than females, making them more difficult for advertisers to locate.our editor recommends10 Broadcast and Cable TV Show Most Watched By MenTim Goodman's What Men Should Be Watching on TV List In fact, most estimates put the TV-watching audience at about 60 percent women, and despite a seismic shift in gender roles, women are still at home -- and in front of the television -- much more often than men. PHOTOS: 10 Broadcast and Cable TV Shows Most Watched By Men "Most of TV skews somewhat female and skews old," says Todd Gordon, senior vp and managing director at media agency Initiative. "So older demos and female demos tend to be a little bit easier to find and a little bit less expensive to reach than younger demos or men." Shows such as Fox's animated comedies The Simpsons and Family Guy -- which averaged a middling 7.3 million and 7.8 million total viewers last season, respectively -- can charge more than $250,000 for a 30-second spot. That's 14 percent more than the female-skewing ABC drama Grey's Anatomy, which averaged nearly 12 million viewers and charged about $220,000 for a 30-second commercial last season. "If you're designing a show and you want to make a lot of money, you want to bring in young men," says Gordon. Of course, live sports programming is where buyers go to reach the most overall viewers and the most men. And top-rated shows like Fox's American Idol still reach the big, broad audiences advertisers crave most. But smaller-scale hits like FX pair Justified and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as well as Comedy Central's guy-humor lineup including current "It" boy Daniel Tosh's Tosh.0, can deliver big profits without huge ratings -- if men tune in regularly. In addition to being priced differently, men and women exhibit distinct emotional motivations behind their media consumption, according to psychology experts. Women tend to look for empowerment, which is why Oprah Winfrey is such a potent brand. Underscoring traditional Venus and Mars stereotypes, many male motivations don't stray far from the prehistoric cave. According to ad-buying firm Starcom, men consume media for four reasons: to prepare themselves for battle; to feel rebellious; to connect to a passion (mostly sports, music or cars); and to be mentally challenged. Starcom measured 600 media outlets, including TV, digital and print properties, and polled 20,000 people to arrive at a proprietary "emotional index" for planning and buying purposes. "It's kind of funny and a little bit cliché," says Kathy Kline, Starcom senior vp and human experience director. "But there's a whole emotional territory of media that men engage in to gain a competitive edge." Thus, they "arm themselves for battle" with the Weather Channel or CNBC's Mad Money, says Kline. They use MTV (Jersey Shore) and VH1 (Basketball Wives) to feel rebellious and "a little bit like an outlaw." ESPN and NASCAR programming hit passion levers and reinforce male aspirations to be athletic and powerful. And programs like Comedy Central's The Colbert Report and History's Pawn Stars provide a mental challenge. Men also love subversive humor, which explains the popularity of Comedy Central and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. Says Kline of the sweet spot for men, "It's entertaining stuff that has an edge, a little bit dark and very witty." BROADCAST The top 10 network nonsports series among men ages 18 to 24 American Idol (performance*) (Fox) -- 1.5 million Family Guy (Fox) --1.2 million The Simpsons (Fox) -- 1.04 million Bob's Burgers (Fox) -- 1.03 million The Voice (NBC) -- 1.01 million The Office (NBC) -- 950,000 The Cleveland Show (Fox) -- 943,000 America's Got Talent (perf.) (NBC) -- 854,000 House (Fox) -- 801,000 Mondern Family (ABC) -- 776,000 * Including results shows, "Idol" would have occupied the No. 2 slot as well. CABLE The top 10 cable nonsports series among men ages 18 to 34 WWE Raw (USA) -- 775,000 Workaholics (Comedy Central) -- 506,000 Tosh.O (Comedy Central) -- 402,000 Pawn Stars (HIST) -- 401,000 American Dad (Adult Swim) -- 400,000 Jersey Shore (MTV) -- 399,000 Justified (FX) -- 381,000 WWE Tough Enough (USA) -- 380,000 Family Guy (TBS) -- 375,000 Falling Skies (TNT) -- 370,000 WHERE MEN HANG OUT The 10 cable networks with the largest primetime viewership among men ages 18 to 34 ESPN -- 343,000 TNT -- 330,000 Comedy Central -- 275,000 History Channel -- 236,000 TBS -- 233,000 USA -- 229,000 FX -- 222,000 Adult Swim -- 219,000 MTV -- 183,000 Discovery -- 177,000 HISPANIC: BROADCASTING The top 10 network nonsports series among men age 18 to 34 Family Guy (Fox) -- 208,000 American Idol (performance*) (Fox) -- 188,000 The Simpsons (Fox) -- 180,000 Bob's Burgers (Fox) -- 172,000 The Voice (NBC) -- 165,000 The Cleveland Show (Fox) -- 151,000 MasterChef (Fox) -- 138,000 American Dad (Fox) -- 123,000 America's Got Talent (performance*) (NBC) -- 106,000 House (Fox) -- 100,000 * Including results shows, "Idol" would have occupied the No. 6 slot as well. HISPANIC: CABLE The top 10 cable nonsports sereis among men ages 18 to 34 WWE Raw (USA) -- 177,000 Jersey Shore (MTV) -- 83,000 WWE Friday Night SmackDown (SyFy) -- 76,000 Family Guy (TBS) -- 54,000 WWE Tough Enough (USA) -- 51,000 NY Ink (TLC) -- 51,000 Impact Wrestling (Spike) -- 50,000 Family Guy (Adult Swim) -- 49,000 American Dad (Adult Swim) -- 49,000 The Ultimate Fighter (Spike) -- 48,000 AFRICAN-AMERICAN: BROADCAST The top 10 network nonsports series among men ages 18 to 34 Family Guy (Fox) -- 147,000 The Cleveland Show (Fox) -- 143,000 American Idol (performance*) (Fox) -- 139,000 The Simpsons (Fox) -- 123,000 Bob's Burgers (Fox) -- 117,000 V (ABC) -- 113,000 The Voice (NBC) -- 98,000 So You Think You Can Dance? (performance*) (Fox) -- 95,000 American Dad (Fox) -- 90,000 MasterChef (Fox) -- 85,000 AFRICAN-AMERICAN: CABLE The top 10 cable nonsports series among men ages 18 to 34 The Game (BET) -- 182,000 WWE Raw (USA) -- 128,000 Let's Stay Together (BET) -- 102,000 House of Payne (TBS) -- 100,000 Are We There Yet? (TBS) -- 94,000 Toya: A Family Affair (BET) -- 90,000 Basketball Wives (VH1) -- 88,000 Sunday Best (BET) -- 83,000 Family Guy (Adult Swim) -- 73,000 American Dad (Adult Swim) -- 72,000 LATE-NIGHT TV Jay Leno's Tonight Show generates the highest ratings, but more than 6 in 10 Stephen Colbert viewers are men. The Colbert Report -- 61.1% The Daily Show with John Stewart -- 60.7% Conan -- 54.9% Lopez Tonight -- 52.7% The Tonight Show With Jay Leno -- 45.3% Late Night With Jimmy Fallon -- 43.9% The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson -- 42.3% Late Show With David Letterman -- 41.3% Jimmy Kimmel Live -- 36.3% Chelsea Lately -- 33.8% Source: All chart data come from Nielsen and represents live-plus-same-day viewership among men age 18 to 34 from Dec. 27 to July 17. Only nonsports regular series in primetime were included. Related Topics The Simpsons It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Justified Family Guy