USA Cranks Winning Ways Up to '11'

USA Network last week kept its prime-time ratings streak alive, going a perfect 11-for-11 with 2.61 million total viewers while taking two of the top three demos.In the week ended March 15, USA delivered 1.19 million adults 25-54 and 1.17 million viewers 18-49, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings data. The net also took second place among the younger demo, serving up 558,000 viewers 18-34. As Burn Notice joined Monk and Psych on hiatus, USA turned to WWE Raw and NCIS 10, which combined to nail down four of the most-watched programs on ad-supported cable last week. The Monday night wrestling showcase averaged 5.4 million viewers on March 9 between 9 p.m. and 11:08 p.m., while NCIS took in 4.23 million viewers at 7 p.m. The procedural also scared up 4.01 million viewers Thursday at 7 p.m., and just shy of 4 million in the same time slot on Tuesday evening.WWE Raw also accounted for the second most-watched program among the 18-49 crowd, averaging 2.56 million members of the demo. (The Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy won the week with 2.62 million 18-49s.) The same dynamic applied for viewers 25-54, as the tribute to low-brow comedy edged past the WWE by a margin of around 5,000 viewers, as both programs averaged around 2.53 million.Fox News Channel last week remained in second place among all ad-supported cable nets, averaging 2.24 million prime-time viewers, 523,000 of which were members of the core news demo. FNC continued to put up strong numbers with The O’Reilly Factor, which drew 3.67 million viewers Monday night in its 8 p.m. slot. and 3.61 million on Thursday night.TBS held on to third place with 1.93 million viewers, while resuming its hold over the 18-34 demo with a delivery of 652,000 viewers. The Turner net also took second among the other two top demos, averaging 1.16 million viewers 18-49 and 976,000 25-54s. On the week, TBS drew its largest audience with Sunday night’s presentation of the Will Smith theatrical Hitch, serving up 3.61 million viewers between 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Of those, 2.15 million fell into the 18-49 demo, good for fourth place.ESPN moved up a notch to fourth place, averaging 1.85 million viewers, thanks in part to its coverage of the Big East basketball tourney final. Two nights after Syracuse won its six-OT quarterfinal classic against UConn, the Orange fell to Louisville 76-66, in front of a national TV audience of 3.87 million total viewers (1.58 million adults 18-49). The sports net secured a third-place finish among 18-49s (807,000) as well as 25-54s (851,000), while taking fifth among viewers 18-34. Nickelodeon/Nick-at-Nite closed out the top five with 1.69 million viewers. Meanwhile, for the second week in a row, TNT failed to crack the upper reaches of the ad-supported cable hierarchy, averaging 1.6 million prime-time viewers. TNT’s Trust Me has failed to find an audience in its new Tuesday 10 p.m. slot, as the March 10 episode took in just 876,000 total viewers. That represents a 17 percent decline versus the prior-week delivery and a whopping 75 percent plummet from the series premiere of 3.4 million viewers. A new installment of Saving Grace was TNT’s highest-rated program on the week, delivering 2.34 million viewers Monday at 10 p.m. Grace’s lead-in, a repeat episode of the on-hiatus The Closer, served up 2.33 million viewers. Disney Channel last week surged to a first-place finish among all basic-cable nets, as the non-ad-supported net averaged 2.61 million total viewers. The Mouse enjoyed a stellar weekend, as the TV premiere of the Disney Pixar theatrical Cars drew 4.65 million viewers Saturday night (8 p.m.-10 p.m.), paving the way for Sunday’s triple-threat of Hannah Montana (4.42 million viewers), Wizards of Waverly Place (4.16 million) and Sonny With a Chance (3.99 million).

Convergent TV

USA Cranks Winning Ways Up to '11'

Anthony Crupi

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Anthony Crupi