USA Scorches Cable Ratings

As the sun continues its lazy arc across the summer sky, USA Network is on pace to win its fifth consecutive hot-season ratings race. NBC Universal’s cable powerhouse notched yet another victory in prime time last week, averaging 3.12 million total viewers and taking the two major TV demos.

Per Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings data, USA in the week ended August 15 averaged 1.27 million adults 25-54 and 1.18 million viewers 18-49, as its original series kept it well ahead of the ad-supported cable pack.

Burn Notice served up 5.57 million viewers Thursday night at 9 p.m., while Royal Pains retained 97 percent of that lead-in delivery (5.39 million). Burn Notice also drew 2.35 million adults 25-54 and 2.01 million viewers 18-49; with an average draw of 2.12 million 18-49s, Royal Pains out-drew its Thursday night partner in the demo by 5 percent. Pains also served up 2.52 million adults 25-54, improving on Burn Notice’s draw by 7 percent.

On Tuesday, August 10, USA’s latest hit Covert Affairs scared up 5.17 million viewers, bringing the show’s season-to-date average to 5.08 million viewers after five episodes. The Piper Perabo CIA thriller also lured 2.17 million adults 25-54 (42 percent of its overall delivery) and 2.04 million viewers 18-49 (40 percent). Covert lead-in White Collar drew 4 million viewers, including 1.47 million 25-54s and 1.44 million 18-49s.

The following night, Psych drew 3.78 million viewers in its 10 p.m. slot.

In addition to its original scripted slate, USA also enjoyed a predictable lift from WWE Raw. The Monday night wrestling franchise averaged 4.36 million viewers between 9 p.m. and 11:10 p.m., more than half of which (2.22 million) were members of the 18-49 demo.

TNT held onto second place on the week, thanks to yet another strong showing from its Monday night lineup. The Turner network continues to cast a wide net with Rizzoli & Isles and The Closer, as the new procedural won the week with 7.42 million viewers at 10 p.m. Lead-in The Closer drew 7.22 million.

In the course of its first five episodes, Rizzoli & Isles is averaging 7.08 million total viewers, per live-plus-same-day data. Both series skew much older than the top USA originals; for example, a mere 36 percent (2.66 million) of the viewers who tuned in for the August 9 installment of Rizzoli & Isles were members of the 25-54 demo. At the same time, only 28 percent (2.06 million) of the R&I draw fell into the 18-49 camp. Meanwhile, 25 percent (1.8 million) of The Closer’s audience were viewers 18-49; adults 25-54 accounted for 34 percent (2.43 million) of the show’s August 9 delivery.

On Tuesday night, freshman Jason Lee vehicle Memphis Beat drew 3.81 million viewers Tuesday at 10 p.m., improving on its Hawthorne lead-in by 15 percent. Sunday night’s installment of Leverage averaged 3.12 million viewers in its 9 p.m. time slot, while sophomore cop show Dark Blue slipped 6 percent to 2.34 million viewers in its Wednesday 9 p.m. slot. Through the first three episodes of season two, the Jerry Bruckheimer drama is averaging 2.46 million total viewers.

On the sports side of the ledger, TNT’s coverage of the morning action from the final round of the 2010 PGA Championship delivered 2.26 million viewers Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. EDT.

TNT averaged 2.33 million total viewers in prime last week, of which 938,000 were members of the 25-54 demo. The network finished fourth among viewers 18-49, averaging 763,000.

Fox News Channel once again closed out the week in third place, averaging 1.87 million viewers in prime, of which 462,000 were members of the core news demo (adults 25-54). The network notched its biggest program delivery with Wednesday night’s O’Reilly Factor, which averaged 3.36 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour. Monday’s Factor served up 3.16 million viewers.

Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite averaged 1.83 million viewers, thanks in part to a new episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, which soaked up 4.38 million viewers Monday at 8 p.m. Nick wrapped up another win in total-day, averaging 2.57 million viewers, of which more than half (1.37 million) were kids 2-11.

History closed out the top five with an average draw of 1.62 million viewers, of which 850,000 were in the 25-54 demo and 777,000 were viewers 18-49. Those deliveries were good enough for History to secure a third-place finish among each demo.

On Monday night, a new installment of American Pickers brought in 4.7 million viewers at 9 p.m.; lead-out Pawn Stars repeated to 3.8 million viewers. Pickers also packed some tasty demo deliveries, averaging 2.33 million adults 25-54 and 2.16 million viewers 18-49.

On the week, the top 10 outlets serving the primary TV demo were: USA, which averaged 1.18 million viewers 18-49; TBS (826,000); History (777,000); TNT (763,000); MTV (752,000); ESPN (710,000); Comedy Central (680,000); A&E (673,000); Food Network (646,000) and FX (635,000).

MTV continued to make a splash as the transplanted hit Jersey Shore scared up 5.51 million viewers Thursday night at 10 p.m. The bibulous antics of the GTL crew helped MTV post the week’s most jacked-up demo deliveries, as Shore served up 3.58 million adults 18-49 and 2.87 million viewers 18-34. Apparently, everyone’s watching this grenade, as episode three finished sixth among adults 25-54, averaging 2.36 million members of the elder demo.

Unscripted series and specials were kings of the beach last week, as Comedy Central’s raunchy Roast of David Hasselhoff drew 3.51 million viewers/2.51 million adults 18-49 Sunday night at 10 p.m. Meanwhile, the season finale of E!’s Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami on Sunday averaged 3.66 million viewers/2.43 million 18-49s, MTV’s Teen Mom averaged 3.24 million viewers/2.4 million 18-49s and The Next Food Network tar cooked up 4.59 million viewers/2.35 million 18-49s.

Of the 3.08 million viewers who tuned in Monday night for Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New Jersey, a whopping 70 percent, or 2.17 million viewers, were members of the 18-49 set.

Non-ad-supported Disney Channel took second place among all basic-cable networks last week, averaging 2.88 million viewers in prime. The Mouse swept the core kiddie demos, averaging 1.63 million viewers 2-11, 1.01 million ‘tweens 9-14 and 1.25 million kids 6-11.

On Friday night, the Disney original movie Den Brother drew 3.75 million viewers between 8 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., of which 1.52 million were kids 6-11 and 1.45 million were ‘tweens 9-14.