USA Network's WWE Raw led all weekly cable viewing, followed by the movie Another Cinderella Story on Family. Another installment of WWE Raw, iCarly and Monk rounded out the top five. Bush's brief farewell speech followed by after coverage both made the top 10 for Fox News, and VH1's Real Chance of Love also shoehorned into the top ten.
Five SpongeBob airings along with five airings of NCIS pretty much filled out the top twenty. I've included a bunch of additional shows this week, and though they are sorted by viewers, they are not ranked (literally hundreds of airings of shows are left out). If your favorite was not included...sorry!
Please note that these numbers are only for advertising supported cable shows. We didn't see any premium cable show info and as of this writing (9:30AM on Wednesday January 21) I have not seen any information for premium shows that aired Sunday like Big Love on HBO and United States Of Tara on Showtime.
Update 01/21/09 2pm PT: James Hibberd reports that HBO's Big Love returned to 1.2 million and Flight of the Conchords averaged 560,000. Both are off around 50% from last year's numbers. Meanwhile the initial airing of the series premiere of the United States Of Tara on Sunday night averaged 880,000.
Full Top 20 Cable Results for the week ending 01/18/2009:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY | Time | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT | USA | Mon | 10:00P-11:10P | 5,411 |
| 2 | ANOTHER CINDERELLA STY PR | FAM | Sun | 08:00P-10:00P | 5,296 |
| 3 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT | USA | Mon | 09:00P-10:00P | 5,086 |
| 4 | iCarly | NICK | Sat | 08:00P-08:30P | 5,052 |
| 5 | MONK | USA | Fri | 09:00P-10:00P | 4,941 |
| 6 | PRES FAREWELL ADDRESS | FOXN | Thu | 08:00P-08:15P | 4,855 |
| 7 | SpongeBob | NICK | Sat | 12:00P-12:30P | 4,243 |
| 8 | THE OREILLY FACTOR | FOXN | Thu | 08:15P-09:00P | 4,241 |
| 9 | NCIS | USA | Thu | 07:00P-08:00P | 4,206 |
| 10 | REAL CHANCE OF LOVE | VH1 | Mon | 09:00P-10:30P | 4,186 |
| 11 | SUITE LIFE ON DECK | DSNY | Fri | 08:00P-08:30P | 4,122 |
| 12 | BACK AT THE BARNYARD | NICK | Sat | 10:00A-10:30A | 4,149 |
| 13 | SpongeBob | NICK | Sat | 12:30P-01:00P | 4,082 |
| 14 | SpongeBob | NICK | Sun | 12:00P-12:30P | 3,957 |
| 15 | NCIS | USA | Mon | 07:00P-08:00P | 3,956 |
| 16 | NCIS | USA | Fri | 07:00P-08:00P | 3,942 |
| 17 | SpongeBob | NICK | Sat | 11:30A-12:00P | 3,910 |
| 18 | NCIS | USA | Tue | 07:00P-08:00P | 3,883 |
| 19 | SpongeBob | NICK | Fri | 05:30P-06:00P | 3,857 |
| 20 | NCIS | USA | Wed | 07:00P-08:00P | 3,852 |
| Other Shows | |||||
| PSYCH | USA | Fri | 10:00P-11:00P | 3,646 | |
| TRUE JACKSON, VP | NICK | Sat | 08:30P-09:00P | 3,565 | |
| MIGHTY B! | NICK | Sat | 10:30A-11:00A | 3,497 | |
| iCarly | NICK | Sat | 07:30P-08:00P | 3,433 | |
| TOP CHEF | BRAV | Wed | 10:00P-11:00P | 3,172 | |
| PHINEAS AND FERB | DSNY | Fri | 08:30P-09:00P | 3,194 | |
| SR/THE OBAMA EXPRESS | CNN | Sat | 04:00P-05:00P | 3,162 | |
| BACK AT THE BARNYARD | NICK | Sun | 10:00A-10:30A | 3,158 | |
| SECRET LIFE/AMERICAN TEEN | FAM | Mon | 08:00P-09:00P | 3,141 | |
| THE OREILLY FACTOR | FOXN | Fri | 08:00P-09:00P | 3,115 | |
| MEET THE BROWNS | TBSC | Wed | 10:30P-11:00P | 3,111 | |
| MEET THE BROWNS | TBSC | Wed | 10:00P-10:30P | 3,103 | |
| FAIRLY ODD PARENTS | NICK | Sat | 08:30A-09:00A | 2,878 | |
| A CINDERELLA STORY | FAM | Sun | 06:00P-08:00P | 2,864 | |
| LEVERAGE | TNT | Tue | 10:00P-11:00P | 2,657 | |
| LAW & ORDER | TNT | Mon | 10:00P-11:00P | 2,649 | |
| S BIG FAT LIAR | DSNY | Sat | 10:00P-11:35P | 2,607 | |
| NIP TUCK | FX | Tue | 10:00P-11:02P | 2,528 | |
| HOME IMPROVEMENT | NAN | Fri | 11:00P-11:30P | 2,454 | |
| YOU, ME AND DUPREE | TBSC | Fri | 08:00P-10:00P | 2,428 | |
| NFL COUNTDOWN L | ESPN | Sun | 11:00A-01:00P | 2,427 | |
| REAL WORLD XXI | MTV | Wed | 10:00P-11:00P | 2,423 | |
| THE FIRST 48 | A&E | Thu | 09:00P-10:00P | 2,401 | |
| BEAST, THE | A&E | Thu | 10:00P-10:52P | 2,397 | |
| STAR WARS:CLONE WARS | TOON | Fri | 09:00P-09:30P | 2,352 | |
| PITTSBURGH/LOUISVILLE | ESPN | Sat | 06:19P-08:24P | 2,293 | |
| HOUSE OF PAYNE | TBSC | Wed | 11:00P-11:30P | 2,258 | |
| DORA THE EXPLORER | NICK | Fri | 10:30A-11:00A | 2,237 | |
| BATTLSTR GALACTICA (ORIG) | SCIF | Fri | 10:00P-11:03P | 2,112 | |
| JEFF DUNHAM: SPARK OF INS | CMDY | Sat | 08:30P-10:00P | 2,079 | |
| AMERICAS BEST DANCE CREW | MTV | Thu | 10:00P-11:30P | 2,017 | |
| LAKERS/SPURS | ESPN | Wed | 09:05P-11:37P | 1,955 | |
| FAMILY MATTERS | NAN | Sat | 12:00A-12:30A | 1,849 | |
| BURN NOTICE | USA | Thu | 12:00A-01:00A | 1,844 | |
| THATS SO RAVEN - LN | DSNY | Sat | 12:00A-12:30A | 1,808 | |
| DAILY SHOW | CMDY | Wed | 10:59P-11:30P | 1,800 | |
| CITY, THE | MTV | Mon | 10:00P-10:30P | 1,689 | |
| DADDYS GIRLS | MTV | Mon | 10:30P-11:00P | 1,437 | |
| MTV TEEN CRIBS | MTV | Sat | 02:00P-02:30P | 1,396 | |
| DOUBLE SHOT AT LOVE | MTV | Tue | 10:00P-11:00P | 1,378 | |
| DIRTY JOBS | DISC | Sun | 08:00P-09:00P | 1,611 | |
| KYLE XY | FAM | Mon | 09:00P-10:00P | 1,497 | |
| PARDON THE INTERRUPTION | ESPN | Mon | 05:30P-06:00P | 1,273 | |
| DAMAGES | FX | Wed | 10:00P-11:03P | 1,135 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
It is interesting that the First 48 drew more viewers then The Beast. Imagine how much cheaper The First 48 is to produce than The Beast. However I think it is important for A&E to produce original dramas because they could come across a hit and it does do better ratings then another CSI Miami rerun.
Nip Tuck did ok I guess. I am disapointed they decided to stretch the last episodes after this seasons 8 into two more seasons. I would prefer this show to end next year rather than 2010. Too long. It seems people are sticking with it though.
Damages is disapointing. An amazing show that just not enough people are paying attention to. I know F/X has signed the show for a season after this one and i’m hoping they stay with it. I know it’s important to have critical acclaim but there has to be some ratings success as well.
I don’t get all the love for NCIS. ugh
THATS SO RAVEN – LN DSNY Sat 12:00A-12:30A 1,808
Again? Who are these people?
that is truly horrific for Damages. Didn’t Over*There get those numbers and get canceled?
i thought i herd DAMAGES got renewed for 2 seasons after the season one finale…. thats amazing how much REAL CHANCE AT LOVE got
Thank you for including Kyle XY!
I really like all the ratings NCIS has gotten on USA. The network (CBS) ratings have taken a big jump this season (between 18-19 million per episode), and I bet that might have something to do with how high the repeats are doing on USA (and how people might have discovered the show on USA and now watch new eps on CBS).
I’m upset that Kyle XY dropped so much from its lead-in:
Secret Life of the American Teenager (Mon 8pm) – 3.141 million
Kyle XY (Mon 9pm) – 1.497 million
That’s 1.644 million viewers that turned away after Secret Life.
Damages and 1.1 million viewers not good. I guess I would like to see the repeat numbers also and DVR numbers. I truly believe this show is heavily DVR’d during the week.
Lynne: 686K and 377K for the Wednesday night/Thursday morning rebroadcasts, and 316K on Sunday.
they still aren’t good numbers. I don’t know that we’ll ever see the live+7 numbers for Damages unless FX issues a press release, but even if the original airing is in the 40% range, the number seem disappointing.
-That’s So Raven is burning up Saturday late-nights!
-Nickelodeon is not just all Spongebob: Mighty B, Barnyard, iCarly, and True Jackson are all doing EXTREMELY well.
-Damages is a goner
That’s sad because this is my FAVORITE show on TV right now.
Well what is interesting to me is USA Network. I recently read on an artical that USA Network draws better numbers than the CW and MYTVNET. I really wish some of their #1 shows could be on NBC like WWE Raw, Monk and Burn Notice. I really think that with more advertising WWE Raw could be a potential Top 20 in Broadcast ratings if they were on the right night like Monday- Thursday.
Very interesting that NCIS is drawing such big numbers even though they are repeats.
I can not wait to see what the WWE Raw episode on 1/19 will recieve in the ratings because it was a hyped episode and it went over 15 minutes so it probably recieved over 6 million viewers for a portion of the show.
I was expecting kyle xy to have more viewers considering the amount of dedication and loyalty it has on the website. But at least it’s on the list
Do you know the numbers for Batman: The Brave and the Bold(Friday 8-8:30 pm)?
Jim, 1.526 million.
Damages
Yet ANOTHER show I love gone completely unappreciated…
Oh… just found this.
HBO:
Big Love – 1.2 million
Flight of the Concords – 560,000
Showtime:
The L Word – 460,000
United States of Tara – 880,000 viewers
Secret Diary of a Call Girl – 560,000 viewers
And I’m ignoring the crap about ABC Family in honor of good TV…
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i3db40f138794b573a08c2a2969df20af
Dylan,
NBC has tried to put WWE on in primetime before and it’s been a miserable failure.
Wrestling has a nice-sized, loyal following, but it’s not mainstream and never will be.
Well Andrew that is true but not entirley. Back in the 80s when WWE was at the top it gained ratings like 10.0 and 11.7, with over 30 million for certain events like the Main Event in 1988. But now they put WWE on Saturday nights which is THE absolute worst night in television and it is no suprise they do not draw. For example the last saturday night maineven recieved a 1.9 with less than 4 million viewers and on cable they get any where from 4.5-6 million. I think on a Monday Tue WED or THur night the WWE Raw show could draw numbers better than a lot of the NBC Shows. For example this weeks Raw show did 5.4 mill for one hour and that beat 6 of NBCS top 20 shows that get 100X more advertisements. I do believe that WWE would do ok, Andrew i totally agreee with you that they did horrible, and maybe I am wrong but i think it would at least be a top 20 show in the months of late may to early spetmember when the tv crowds are smaller.
Yes I agree with andrew that the WWE on Saturday Nights have been dismall but Boston is right, the WWE has had cycles of huge crowds. Late 90′s they drew cable crowds that would of put them in the top 30 Broadcast shows! One week they drew an 8.4 rating with over 14 million viewers! So even though the WWE is not “mainstrem tv” they definitly have a loyal cable fan base and if it went on one of the big four networks (FOX,ABC,NBC,CBS) with some decent promos and commericals it would have a possibility at being a show that could draw 10-12 million a week certain weeks.
I also want to point out that there have been weirder and dumber and less successful shows that have prospered in this television industry so it is not a stretch to say they couldnt be a top NBC Show behind Sunday Night Football and Law and Order.