Mid-Season Premieres of Hit Originals Lead USA To Victory

via press release:

USA ORIGINALS DRIVE CONTINUED REIGN AT #1

Mid-Season Premieres of Hit Originals WHITE COLLAR & Burn Notice
and Powerhouse WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW Lead USA To Victory

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – January 26, 2010 – USA was #1 this week in basic cable prime for P25-54 and P18-49 and the top entertainment network for total viewers and households.  USA was also the only cable network to deliver more than 1 million P18-49 (1.32 million, +43% over #2 TBS), more than 1 million P25-54 (1.43 million, +47% over #2 A&E), more than 3 million total viewers (3.19 million, +29% over #2 DSNY) and more than 2 million households (2.36 million, +30% over #2 DSNY).

USA continued to outperform The CW, delivering more P18-49 (+21%), P25-54 (+54%) and total viewers (+66%) than the broadcaster thanks to the winter season premieres of the USA hit originals Burn Notice and WHITE COLLAR, ratings powerhouse WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW, episodes of the top acquired series' NCIS and LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit and hit movies including the network window premiere of “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “50 First Dates” and “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.”

USA placed half of the week's top ten P25-54 and four of the P18-49 top ten telecasts in cable prime this week.  USA was the only network to place more than twice in this top tier for either demo.

• The winter season premiere of Burn Notice was the week’s top series among P25-54 (2.60 million) and the top scripted series of the week among P18-49 (2.51 million). On Thursday night, it delivered more total viewers (5.35 million) and households (3.81 million) than anything else on cable.  The winter season premiere delivered more P18-49 than the premiere of ABC's "The Deep End" on the same night and was #1 in its time slot among M18-49, beating all cable and broadcast.

• Tuesday's mid-season premiere of WHITE COLLAR hit series highs with 2.12 million P18-49 and 983,000 P18-34.  It was the top telecast on cable, delivering more P25-54 (2.21 million) and P18-49 than any other network.  It was also the top entertainment telecast of the day among total viewers (4.72 million) and households (3.37 million).  The last time more P25-54 or households tuned into this time period on USA was in 2003; this was the biggest P18-49 audience to the time period since 2004 and the best total persons audience since 2005. The telecast was the only entertainment offering in cable prime to deliver over 2 million P25-54, 2 million P18-49, 3 million total viewers or 2 million households Tuesday night.  It also delivered more households, total viewers, P18-34, P18-49, and P25-54 than anything in ABC’s primetime as well as outperforming “The Good Wife” in P18-34.

• This week's episode of WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW was the most popular show on cable Monday night, taking the top two telecasts among P25-54 (2.50 million), P18-49 (2.60 million) and P18-34 (1.35 million).  It was the only show in basic cable prime to deliver over 2.5 million P25-54 or 2.5 million P18-49.

USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in over 98.5 million U.S. homes.  A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.

USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.