With ESPN airing the NFL Pro Bowl game on Sunday night, I'd have put money down that they would win the primetime cable network ratings race for the week, but USA with its full slate of new series (lead by Burn Notice), and the ratings favorite NCIS repeats managed to edge out ESPN for the primetime cable ratings wins in both average viewers and adults 18-49. Bolstered by big ratings the night of the State Of the Union address, Fox News finished third for average primetime viewership.
Nickelodeon remained firmly on the top of the total day average viewership.
Prime-time Average Viewers (Live+SD) Week of January 25-31, 2010
| Network | (000s) |
| USA | 3,524 |
| ESPN | 3,188 |
| FOXN | 2,885 |
| DSNY | 2,499 |
| TNT | 2,125 |
| TBSC | 1,857 |
| A&E | 1,730 |
| NAN | 1,703 |
| HIST | 1,640 |
| TLC | 1,593 |
| TOON | 1,433 |
| HGTV | 1,415 |
| TRU | 1,309 |
| FX | 1,251 |
| LIFE | 1,244 |
| FAM | 1,236 |
| SYFY | 1,204 |
| SPK | 1,141 |
| FOOD | 1,113 |
| DISC | 1,082 |
| CMDY | 1,056 |
| MTV | 1,047 |
| AMC | 931 |
| HALL | 913 |
| MSNB | 889 |
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Adults 18-49 Primetime Average (Live+SD)
| Network | (000s) |
| USA | 1,438 |
| ESPN | 1,434 |
| TBSC | 1,145 |
| TNT | 880 |
| A&E | 838 |
| HIST | 798 |
| TLC | 771 |
| FX | 724 |
| MTV | 651 |
| TRU | 638 |
| LIFE | 586 |
| DISC | 581 |
| SPK | 578 |
| FAM | 570 |
| DSNY | 568 |
| CMDY | 562 |
| HGTV | 561 |
| FOOD | 532 |
| FOXN | 503 |
| SYFY | 479 |
| VH1 | 445 |
| NAN | 434 |
| EN | 433 |
| BRAV | 428 |
| AMC | 406 |
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Total Day Average Viewers (Live+SD)
| Network | (000s) |
| NICK | 2,231 |
| DSNY | 1,679 |
| NAN | 1,668 |
| USA | 1,541 |
| FOXN | 1,491 |
| TNT | 1,368 |
| ESPN | 1,151 |
| ADSM | 1,143 |
| TOON | 1,099 |
| TBSC | 1,006 |
| A&E | 957 |
| TRU | 885 |
| HIST | 836 |
| LIFE | 793 |
| HGTV | 782 |
| FOOD | 765 |
| SPK | 764 |
| FX | 736 |
| DISC | 710 |
| TLC | 646 |
| TVLD | 625 |
| NKJR | 571 |
| MTV | 587 |
| CMDY | 576 |
| SYFY | 572 |
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Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2010 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
