WWE Raw took the top two spots, but the NFL Draft on ESPN was not far behind. Considering that the NFL Draft had a duration of five hours and that we don't see the hourly data, it could well be that the two most-watched hours of cable last week were the NFL Draft.
Yankees/Sawx and iCarly rounded out the top five. In Plain Sight had one of its weaker (perhaps weakest, I didn't check) outings. I'm not really surprised because the season premiere didn't seem that great. The episode on Sunday though was much better and back to last year's form. We'll see if things pick back up next week. The debut of Jeff Goldblum on Law & Order: CI averaged 4.1 million. Disney had some success with the movie Hatching Pete averaging over 4.1 million viewers. Discovery appears to have a cable hit on its hands with Deadliest Catch which also averaged over 4 million viewers.
I normally don't take requests, but am somewhat crunched for time presently, so I'm not listing any shows outside of the top twenty. However, in a rare reversal this week I will take requests and do a table based on the first 20 requests received for airings outside the top 20 and then add it to the post. Please note, we don't have access to data for the premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc). Requests are now closed and the shows have been added below. If we do that again, please limit yourself to one request per person please.
Top twenty cable network television shows for the week ending April 26, 2009:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY | Time | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT | USA | Mon | 10:00P-11:07P | 5,498 |
| 2 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT | USA | Mon | 09:00P-10:00P | 5,101 |
| 3 | NFL DRAFT L | ESPN | Sat | 04:00P-09:00P | 5,058 |
| 4 | YANKEES/RED SOX | ESPN | Sun | 08:00P-11:22P | 4,598 |
| 5 | iCarly | NICK | Wed | 08:00P-08:30P | 4,521 |
| 6 | NCIS | USA | Mon | 07:00P-08:00P | 4,334 |
| 7 | FOR THE LOVE OF RAY J | VH1 | Mon | 10:00P-11:30P | 4,223 |
| 8 | HATCHING PETE | DSNY | Fri | 08:00P-09:40P | 4,138 |
| 9 | LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG) | USA | Sun | 09:00P-10:00P | 4,100 |
| 10 | DEADLIEST CATCH | DISC | Tue | 09:00P-10:01P | 4,049 |
| 11 | SpongeBob | NICK | Sat | 09:30A-10:00A | 3,992 |
| 12 | IN PLAIN SIGHT | USA | Sun | 10:00P-11:00P | 3,969 |
| 13 | SpongeBob | NICK | Sun | 09:30A-10:00A | 3,962 |
| 14 | PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR | NICK | Sat | 10:00A-10:30A | 3,941 |
| 15 | NCIS | USA | Mon | 08:00P-09:00P | 3,937 |
| 16 | NCIS | USA | Sat | 09:00P-10:00P | 3,875 |
| 17 | LAKERS/JAZZ | TNT | Thu | 10:42P-01:29A | 3,824 |
| 18 | NCIS | USA | Tue | 07:00P-08:00P | 3,801 |
| 19 | BULLS/CELTICS | TNT | Mon | 07:07P-09:53P | 3,760 |
| 20 | SpongeBob | NICK | Sun | 09:00A-09:30A | 3,746 |
| Other shows (based on request order, not ranked or sorted) | |||||
| SOUTH PARK | CMDY | Wed | 10:00P-10:30P | 2,587 | |
| I LOVE MONEY 2 | VH1 | Mon | 09:00P-10:00P | 2,491 | |
| HILLS, THE | MTV | Mon | 10:00P-10:30P | 2,342 | |
| COLLEGE LIFE | MTV | Mon | 10:30P-11:00P | 948 | |
| RESCUE ME | FX | Tue | 10:00P-11:03P | 1,538 | |
| PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR | NICK | Fri | 08:00P-08:30P | 3,195 | |
| LAKERS/JAZZ | ESPN | Sat | 09:00P-11:41P | 3,299 | |
| INTERVENTION | A&E | Mon | 09:00P-10:00P | 1,359 | |
| GREEK | FAM | Mon | 08:00P-09:00P | 714 | |
| ROOMMATES | FAM | Mon | 09:00P-09:30P | 520 | |
| IRON MAN | NICK | Sun | 01:00P-01:30P | 1,918 | |
| IRON MAN | NICK | Sun | 01:30P-02:00P | 1,509 | |
| PISTONS/CAVALIERS | TNT | Tue | 08:07P-10:42P | 3,699 | |
| JAZZ/LAKERS | TNT | Tue | 10:42P-01:28A | 3,607 | |
| CELTICS/BULLS | TNT | Thu | 08:07P-10:42P | 3,389 | |
| PHONE, THE | MTV | Tue | 10:00P-11:00P | 920 | |
| DAISY OF LOVE | VH1 | Sun | 09:00P-10:00P | 1,950 | |
| BREAKING BAD | AMC | Sun | 10:00P-11:00P | 1,035 | |
| RW/RR THE DUEL 2 | MTV | Wed | 10:00P-11:00P | 1,798 | |
| UNSTABLE | LIFE | Sat | 09:00P-11:00P | 2,317 | |
| CHASING A DREAM | HALL | Sat | 09:00P-11:00P | 1,758 | |
We also have weekly rankings of the top advertising supported cable networks.
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
Thanks for taking requests! So, do you have the numbers for South Park?
I’m a little disappointed In Plain Sight dropped below 4 million. That’s not good.
Can you please post the numbers for I Love Money 2?
The Hills and College Life please
could you please post the numbers for Rescue Me. And its good to see 2 boston teams make the top twenty shows
Can I get the numbers for “Penguins of Madagascar” on Friday (4/24) at 8pm Eastern?
Thanks.
L&O:CI was good with Goldblum. I’m curious to see how many peopled stayed with the draft, I just flipped through to see who went & when.
what about the lakers-jazz game 4 which followed the NFL draft? i’m sure it was big time.
Can you please post the numbers for Intervention and Saving Grace
The ratings of the new schedule of ABC Family in Monday, with 4 episodes of Roomates dans one of greek if it’s possible
Hey, hope you don’t mind two requests from me, but could you post the numbers for “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” from Nickelodeon on Sunday (4/26) from 1-2pm Eastern?
Thanks!
How about numbers for the NBA playoff games that would be in the top 40
The Phone?
Would you by chance have possibly seen the premiere ratings for Daisy of Love?
In Plain Sight’s series low for last season was their finale with 3.78 million.
Sorry to be a pain but please post the Duel 2 numbers.
Breaking Bad Please
For the Love of Ray J placed 7th? For the Love of God who is watching that awful show?
FYI, there was no Saving Grace last week (its season finale was the week before) and last week there was only one episode of Roommates. I will get a table up once there are a few more requests.
“do a table based on the first 20 requests received for airings outside the top 20 and then add it to the post”
if I’m fast enough to be in the top 20, I would ask for the saturday night “movie of the week” of Lifetime (Unstable) and Hallmark (Chasing a dream) or just the lowest rated between them
Thanks