Oh where or where has my SpongeBob spreadsheet gone? Oh where oh where can it be?
Nielsen has been spotty with updating the spreadsheets lately with the normal way that we access the data. I don't think Nielsen treats us any worse than The Modesto Bee, but we don't get better treatment either! I didn't see any weekly cable ratings on the Modesto Bee either, but they did rerun a Contra Costa Times story comparing 30 Rock to Will & Grace that focuses on ratings that you might enjoy.
Unsurprisingly, Monday Night Football led all cable viewing for the week ending October 26, 2008, with the Denver Broncos vs. New England Patriots game garnering 10.8 million. According to the USA Today (which has a SpongeBob -less list) the Wizards of Waverly Place took the number two spot, followed by The O'Reilly Factor and both airings of WWE Raw. A couple of more O'Reilly Factors, more Wizardly airings, iCarly, college football , House reruns on USA, High School Musical (1 & 2) and Suite Life on Deck also placed.
One of these days, we'll get the spreadsheet and whip up an easy-to-read table, but in the meanwhile you can hop over to the USA Today's ratings charts. Scroll down for the cable results...
Update: Ok, the spreadsheet showed up. My first thought is: "Wow, I can't believe the anti-SpongeBob bias of the USA Today!"
I'd say that they are factoring out everything but new airings of shows, but, it included House reruns. My best guess is it is factoring out non first-run episodes aimed at young children. Either way, its list was SpongeBob-free this week and we have three of the yellow and porous one's airing in the top ten, and five in the top 20!
Here's the absorbent, SpongeBob-laden version of Nielsen's top cable shows for the week ending October 26, 2008:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY(S) | Live+SD HH Rating | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | NFL REGULAR SEASON L (BRONCOS/PATRIOTS) | ESPN | MONDAY | 7.0 | 10,822 |
| 2 | WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE | DSNY | SUNDAY | 3.0 | 4,920 |
| 3 | SpongeBob | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.7 | 4,685 |
| 4 | WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE | DSNY | SUNDAY | 2.9 | 4,587 |
| 5 | SpongeBob | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.7 | 4,418 |
| 6 | THE OREILLY FACTOR | FOXNC | WEDNESDAY | 2.9 | 4,390 |
| 7 | SpongeBob | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.8 | 4,354 |
| 8 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE Raw) | USA | MONDAY | 2.5 | 4,320 |
| 9 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE Raw) | USA | MONDAY | 2.5 | 4,238 |
| 10 | THE OREILLY FACTOR | FOXNC | THURSDAY | 2.8 | 4,171 |
| 11 | SpongeBob | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.4 | 4,109 |
| 12 | S WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLAC(S)-10/26/2008 | DSNY | SUNDAY | 2.6 | 3,991 |
| 13 | iCarly | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.3 | 3,978 |
| 14 | HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 | DSNY | THURSDAY | 2.5 | 3,969 |
| 15 | BACK AT THE BARNYARD | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.5 | 3,949 |
| 16 | HOUSE | USA | SUNDAY | 2.4 | 3,941 |
| 17 | HOUSE | USA | SUNDAY | 2.5 | 3,939 |
| 18 | COLL FTBALL-SAT PRIME L (ALABAMA/TENNESSEE) | ESPN | SATURDAY | 2.4 | 3,939 |
| 19 | SpongeBob | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.5 | 3,918 |
| 20 | THE OREILLY FACTOR | FOXNC | MONDAY | 2.7 | 3,884 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
True Blood numbers anyone? perty please and thanks in advance!
Kasa
True Blood = 2.07 Million:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117994833.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
That really is strange, USA Today screens out the SpongeBob’s but leaves in the Disney shows.
And I had to do a double take at their “Top Cable Networks” list. I assumed I’d made a mistake in ours until I saw that the USA Today list was, wackily, for a 4 week period not the Oct 20-26 from the headline at the top.
Better to entitle the page “USA Today brings you our version of Nielsen Ratings”
I think USA Today only includes the yellow and porous one if it’s a new episode, which according to Julia’s info last week is almost never.
I think some network that is not Nickelodeon pays the USA Today’s Nielsen tab (USA Today obviously gets better access to the data than the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, let alone TVbytheNumbers.com). Or, it’s just a conspiracy against all things that live in the land of Bikini Bottom.
How does SpongeBob do during the week in the mornings/afternoons which is the only time my kids get to see it? The plasma is off on Saturday due to the Sabbath so they only watch in during the week.
Not bad. At least 14 viewings from one household.
How does Drake and Josh do? My kids watch it 5x a week and iCarly as well.
Ian, the anaysis you request is work I’m not willing to even consider without being paid about $350 an hour for, plus we actually only see data for less than
halfa fourth of SpongeBob’s weekly airings.There was no Drake and Josh in this week’s top 40 (eleven SpongeBobs out of abotu 45 that aired)
Robert/Bill,
Lots of Swingtown fans wondering what the viewership was like on the Bravo ‘Swingtown’ marathon last Friday, October 24th. Any idea what kind of viewership they got? Not sure how this is rated, as it ran all night and all day. Your help would be appreciated by all Swingtown fans.
Xerxes,
Sadly, no idea and I didn’t see any data anywhere.
No ABC, NBC, CBS, MNBC etc…they are irrevelent and it is their fault
Tim: This list is of CABLE viewing. ABC, NBC, and CBS (along with FOX and the CW) are broadcast networks. They tracked on a separate list, with much higher numbers.
They should also add Alex from Moonlight to True Blood and let them compete to see who sucks the most —– blood. It might boost True Bloods ratings.
Swingtown? You mean there are people who actually think that tacky, sleazy show with horrifyingly bad 70s fashions and even worse dialog has a ghost of a chance of having new episodes made?
Gee why dont they bring back The Knights of Prosperity too! LOL!
I like USA Today’s list better.
Disney Channel totally owned that list; while the list posted here is mixed…
It was still a great week for Disney Channel and Wizards of Waverly Place did really well.
Alex, maybe that’s USA Todays competitive strategy. They’ll post a list people like better!
Seems like everytime I scan by Ohberman he’s telling his audience how he thrashed OReilly in the ratings. But if I look at a your list he’s not on there.
What’s he talking about?
OK nevermind. I found the chart under cable news and I guess keith was just letting everybody know he won that 25-54 group one night.
Ian White….Sabbath?
Dave, ‘Olbermann’ is just another media bloviator.
question when does summer heights high premier on HBO? its really good, watch it
Olbermann likes to brag his numbers at MSNBC are catching up to O’Reilly’s, but he’s nowhere in the top twenty. I predict that Olbermann’s numbers take a dive after the election. Right now, people that want to hear good news about Obama tune into him because they know he’s on their side. Once the excitement dies down, so will Olbermann’s fan base. It’s inevitable.