Monday Night Football led all cable viewing for the week,as usual, but the surprise (at least for me) was Christmas coming early for Comedy Central and just how well ventriloquist Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas did on Sunday - second to only Monday Night Football with 6.61 million viewers.
Saturday Night Football on ESPN came in third with Alabama's beat-down of Mississippi State averaging 4.955 million. Even in re-airings, iCarly's iGo to Japan movie placed number four and WWE Raw rounded out the top five.
Hannah Montana scored well for Disney, as Miley Cyrus had cable's number one scripted show for the week. I know some of you will say "WWE Raw" is scripted, but until Nielsen buys into it, Hannah is number one, and Disney's Suite Life on Deck was number two. But NICK's iCarly has some legs - the iGo to Japan movie which first aired the prior week also landed the 14th and 19th spots, and the regular iCarly series airings took the 12th and 15th spots.
Lifetime's Saturday Movie, The Two Mr. Kissels took the 11th spot with 4.168 million.
The NFL Network game on Thursday featuring the Jets and the Patriots placed ninth with 4.411 million. I'm pretty sure that includes viewers in Boston and New York who watched the game on their local affiliates, but a brief explanation. NFL games in aired on Cable, are simulcast on broadcast networks in the local markets for the teams playing. This is true for Monday Night Football, and the local market numbers are definitely rolled up into it. I'm pretty sure that's the case for the NFL Network, and if so, that means almost everyone watching the game was in New York and Boston and almost nobody watched it via NFL Network. I'll see if I can find anything out on that.
The NFL Network's first week matchup between Cleveland and Denver didn't rank in last week's top forty, but that was likely due to so much election coverage being watched on cable. But the New York and New England area has more TV viewers than the Cleveland and Denver markets.
Update for HBO Sunday Show fans: True Blood hit a season high 2.7 million Sunday, as did Entourage with 2.1 million.
Nielsen's top cable shows for the week ending November 16, 2008:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY(S) | Column1 | Live+SD HH Rating | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | NFL REGULAR SEASON L (49ERS/CARDINALS) | ESPN | MONDAY | 8:30 PM | 7.6 | 11,870 |
| 2 | JEFF DUNHAMS VERY SPECIAL | CMDY | SUNDAY | 9:00 PM | 3.5 | 6,611 |
| 3 | COLL FTBALL-SAT PRIME L (MISSISSIPPI ST/ALABAMA) | ESPN | SATURDAY | 7:41 PM | 2.8 | 4,955 |
| 4 | iCarly MOVIE: GO TO JAPAN | NICK | MONDAY | 7:00 PM | 3.0 | 4,833 |
| 5 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE Raw) | USA | MONDAY | 9:00 PM | 2.7 | 4,685 |
| 6 | Hannah Montana | DSNY | SUNDAY | 8:00 PM | 3.0 | 4,614 |
| 7 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE Raw) | USA | MONDAY | 10:00 PM | 2.7 | 4,596 |
| 8 | SUITE LIFE ON DECK | DSNY | FRIDAY | 8:00 PM | 2.6 | 4,451 |
| 9 | NFL REGULAR SEASON GAME (2008 - JETS VS. PATRIOTS) | NFLN | THURSDAY | 8:16 PM | 2.7 | 4,411 |
| 10 | NCIS | USA | TUESDAY | 7:00 PM | 2.8 | 4,289 |
| 11 | SATURDAY MOVIE III (TWO MR KISSELS, THE) | LIF | SATURDAY | 9:00 PM | 2.8 | 4,168 |
| 12 | iCarly | NICK | SATURDAY | 8:00 PM | 2.5 | 4,142 |
| 13 | S SUITE LIFE ON DECK(S)-11/14/2008 | DSNY | FRIDAY | 7:30 PM | 2.5 | 4,138 |
| 14 | iCarly MOVIE: GO TO JAPAN | NICK | WEDNESDAY | 6:30 PM | 2.5 | 4,133 |
| 15 | iCarly | NICK | MONDAY | 6:00 PM | 2.7 | 4,094 |
| 16 | THE OREILLY FACTOR | FOXNC | MONDAY | 8:00 PM | 2.6 | 4,030 |
| 17 | iCarly | NICK | MONDAY | 6:30 PM | 2.6 | 4,020 |
| 18 | SpongeBob | NICK | FRIDAY | 5:30 PM | 2.4 | 3,969 |
| 19 | iCarly MOVIE: GO TO JAPAN | NICK | TUESDAY | 4:00 PM | 2.6 | 3,963 |
| 20 | NCIS | USA | THURSDAY | 7:00 PM | 2.6 | 3,938 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
Here are the True Blood numbers for this week but I don’t know how that translates to viewers exactly. I am estimating 2.6 mil based on a rough spreadsheet I’ve been using but you know, that’s not like real numbers. Don’t suppose it popped into the top forty with an actual viewership?
Nov. 16th
True Blood (53 minutes)
- 1.5/2 HH
- 1.5/3 A18-49
Does anyone have the figures for Australia’s own Summer Heights High?
Thnx
HBO’s “True Blood” hit another high (1.5/3 in 18-49, 2.67m)
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996068.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2565
I am glad it is growing in popularity. Hopefully, the release of twilight tomorrow will improve its numbers this sunday. Too bad that will be the last original episode for the season.
Thank you so much lovegood!
I am waiting with baited breath for the release of the season finale. I hope it does well, but a part of me believes that the programmers are waiting to see the ratings for the 1st episode of the 2nd season to decide if to give TB a 3rd season. But I hope they renew in for a third before then – I think this is looking to be the beginning of a cult classic.
HBO’s True Blood averages 6.5 million fans each week!
I’m suprised on how good Jeff Dunham did. Maybe Comedy Central should give him his own 1/2 hour show!