The year that was: 2014 by the numbers

‘The Big Bang Theory’ is the No. 1 scripted show on broadcast.

This was a year of extremes for media, it seemed at times.

Digital fed off the increasing reliance on mobile phones and online video to see big gains in ad spending. Online holiday shopping soared and social media became the go-to platform for news delivery.

But print and other traditional media struggled, not just with falling ad dollars but also with the perception of growing irrelevance.

And while TV remained relevant, it saw huge changes as well. Things that have thrived on broadcast, like the Final Four, are being pushed to cable, which increasingly competes with the Big Four for ad dollars.

To sum up all the extremes of this year, Media Life took a look at 2014 by the numbers. Here’s what we found:

5 – new broadcast shows canceled this fall

11 – new broadcast shows picked up for a full season this fall

4.5 – adults 18-49 rating for “The Big Bang Theory,” this fall’s top scripted show on broadcast

3.8 million – average viewers for Jimmy Fallon since taking over “The Tonight Show” in February

2.5 million – average viewers apiece for his two rivals, Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman

1 billion – views for Conan O’Brien’s YouTube channel since it launched three years ago

7.8 million – final season average for FX’s “Sons of Anarchy,” which wrapped up its seven-season run earlier this month

22 – percent of total U.S. ad dollars that went to digital in 2013

25 – percent of total U.S. ad dollars that went to digital in 2014

47 percent – average lift for broadcast shows from seven-day DVR playback

16.3 million – viewers for one of two Final Four games that aired on cable for the first time this year

AMC has a prequel to ‘The Walking Dead’ and one to ‘Breaking Bad’ slated for 2015.

2 – prequels to hit shows  AMC has on tap for 2015

111.5 million – viewers who tuned in to the 2014 Super Bowl, a new record

8.8 – share of listeners who tuned into news talk in 2014, tops among all radio formats

8.3 – share of listeners who tuned into pop contemporary hit radio, second among all radio formats

672 million – tweets sent during last summer’s World Cup, the most ever for a single event

35.6 million – tweets sent during Germany’s 7-1 semifinal win over Brazil, also a record

327,432 – times The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ tweet commemorating the late Robin Williams was retweeted (it said, “Genie, you’re free”)

2 – number of cable networks (HBO and FX) that said they will no longer issue ratings the day after a show airs; they will issue releases days later that include DVR viewership

$49.948 billion – advertising dollars for American newspapers in 2007

$21.139 billion – advertising dollars for American newspapers in 2014

12 – American metropolitan dailies that have shut down since 2007

18 – dailies that have cut their print frequency or gone to online-only models since 2007

Sony yanks ‘The Interview’ after being hacked in a cyber attack believed to have been masterminded by North Korea.

$100 million – estimated loss for Sony on “The Interview,” the controversial movie about the attempted assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which the studio shelved following a cyber attack believed to have been funded by North Korea

$42 million – what Sony spent to make the film

3 – major media conglomerates that announced plans to spin off their newspapers into separate companies

18 – months in jail former News of the World editor Andy Coulson was sentenced to for his part in the phone hacking scandal

3 – years executive editor Jill Abramson headed The New York Times before a sudden ouster last May

94 – percent gain in circulation by USA Today during the first half of the year after the Alliance for Audited Media changed the way it calculated circulation

37 – staff members who resigned from The New Republic en masse earlier this month, protesting changes to the magazine being made by owner Chris Hughes

1,169,800 – newsstand copies sold of the People issue featuring the late Robin Williams on the cover, the magazine’s best-selling cover this year

$7.99 – cover price for the revived Newsweek, which returned to newsstands in March after 15 months as an online-only publication

5 million – times the “Serial” podcast was downloaded in 12 weeks, an iTunes record

2 – major media companies that changed names in the final months of 2014; Clear Channel became iHeartMedia and CBS Outdoor became Outfront Media

$42.5 billion – amount spent online so far this holiday season (through Dec. 17), up 15 percent from last year

Tags: 2014 by numbers, 2014 by the numbers, digital ad spending, digital media, dvrs, north korea, the interview