Update: First, the one piece of information I know people want to see are the numbers for the season premiere of HBO's True Blood.
Note: the numbers in the table below are for the ad-supported basic cable only, but the 3.7 million for True Blood will be in the top twenty when I see the consolidated data. I have updated the table based on the consolidated info. This is the first HBO (or premium cable show of any kind) I've seen make the top 20 (or even top forty) since the finale of Sopranos was the #1 cable show in June 2007.
Unfortunately I haven't seen the numbers anywhere yet and other than telling you that it wasn't among the top twenty shows, I can't tell you much. Normally one might read into the lack of information or HBO press releases that HBO is hiding bad news. But I don't think you can do that here. HBO is perhaps the least boastful network we've ever encountered. The DVD launch of season one of True Blood in the first few weeks makes for one of the better launches of a TV series DVD. Sales estimates put the DVD at over 850,000 units and $30 million in revenue after three weeks of release. And there was no boasting from HBO. Sooner or later I'd guess we'll see the numbers somewhere and we'll post them.
The season premiere of The Closer stood tall above its summer cable competition and nothing got within a million viewers of it. WWE Raw (allegedly WWE Raw was just purchased by Donald Trump -- The Donald made Vince an offer he couldn't refuse -- whether like the show, that announcement was for entertainment purposes only, we'll see!). Royal Pains again scored 5.59 million, though it increased its demo viewing over it's first week. Burn Notice dropped to 5th and 5.24 million viewers, but it aired against game four of the NBA finals, so look for it to rebound some this week.
In Plain Sight rebounded nicely from the prior week, going back up over four million (4.27) and back into the top ten, edging out Jon & Kate Plus 8 and Deadliest Catch.
In a rare event, SpongeBob did not make the top twenty. The yellow and porous one's best outing was #28 with 3.4 million.
I'm not the only one catching up on NCIS on USA. Five airings made the top twenty, and ten airings made the top forty.
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Top twenty cable network television shows for the week ending June 14, 2009:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY | Time | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | CLOSER, THE | TNT | Mon | 09:00P-10:00P | 7,139 |
| 2 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT | USA | Mon | 10:00P-11:14P | 5,935 |
| 3 | Royal Pains | USA | Thu | 10:00P-11:00P | 5,590 |
| 4 | NASCAR POST RACE SHOW | TNT | Sun | 04:58P-05:11P | 5,531 |
| 5 | BURN NOTICE | USA | Thu | 09:00P-10:00P | 5,242 |
| 6 | SPRINT CUP RACNG/MICHIGAN | TNT | Sun | 01:59P-04:58P | 5,118 |
| 7 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT | USA | Mon | 09:00P-10:00P | 4,873 |
| 8 | IN PLAIN SIGHT | USA | Sun | 10:00P-11:00P | 4,271 |
| 9 | JON & Kate Plus 8 | TLC | Mon | 09:00P-09:30P | 4,252 |
| 10 | DEADLIEST CATCH | DISC | Tue | 09:00P-10:01P | 4,189 |
| 11 | LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG) | USA | Sun | 09:00P-10:00P | 4,141 |
| 12 | PARENT TRAP, THE (1998) | DSNY | Thu | 08:00P-10:20P | 4,119 |
| 13 | NCIS | USA | Wed | 09:00P-10:00P | 3,812 |
| 14 | NCIS | USA | Sat | 10:00P-11:00P | 3,781 |
| 15 | LONESOME DOVE PT 3&4 | AMC | Sun | 08:00P-12:00A | 3,745 |
| 16 | NCIS | USA | Sat | 09:00P-10:00P | 3,723 |
| 17 | ARMY WIVES | LIFE | Sun | 10:00P-11:00P | 3,710 |
| 18 | TRUE BLOOD | HBO | Sun | 09:00P-09:58P | 3,700 |
| 19 | NCIS | USA | Sat | 07:00P-08:00P | 3,683 |
| 20 | NCIS | USA | Sat | 08:00P-09:00P | 3,669 |
| because I lost a bet: | |||||
| GREEK | FAM | Mon | 08:00P-09:00P | 665 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
First, the one piece of information I know people want to see are the numbers for the season premiere of HBO's True Blood. We haven't seen any info yet, but we will post it when we see it.
