Typically ESPN would top the the cable primetime adults 18-49 ratings and total viewership throughout football season, but TBS had such good luck with the baseball division series (multiple 5 game series, including the Yankees), it not only surpassed ESPN for primetime adults 18-49 viewership last week, it beat Nickelodeon (SpongeBob, sob) for total day average viewership. I don't recall the last time that Nickelodeon wasn't on top the total day cable viewership (but my memory is not to be trusted.
For the week's top 25 individual cable programs click here.
Prime-time Average Viewers (Live+SD) Week Ending October 9, 2011
| Network | (000s) |
| TBSC | 5,129 |
| DSNY | 2,838 |
| USA | 2,692 |
| ESPN | 2,590 |
| FX | 1,911 |
| FOXN | 1,909 |
| HIST | 1,528 |
| TNT | 1,411 |
| SYFY | 1,325 |
| A&E | 1,254 |
| ADSM | 1,217 |
| LIFE | 1,139 |
| MTV | 1,109 |
| FOOD | 1,089 |
| NAN | 993 |
| TRU | 967 |
| CMDY | 950 |
| DISC | 947 |
| HGTV | 944 |
| TLC | 903 |
| EN | 881 |
| NKJR | 806 |
| FAM | 759 |
| AMC | 723 |
| BRAV | 721 |
-
Adults 18-49 Prime-time Average (Live+SD)
| Network | (000s) |
| TBSC | 2,189 |
| ESPN | 1,261 |
| FX | 1,126 |
| USA | 969 |
| MTV | 725 |
| HIST | 666 |
| CMDY | 622 |
| A&E | 599 |
| SYFY | 598 |
| TNT | 596 |
| ADSM | 574 |
| EN | 570 |
| DSNY | 548 |
| FOOD | 537 |
| LIFE | 523 |
| DISC | 510 |
| TRU | 457 |
| TLC | 445 |
| BRAV | 432 |
| VH1 | 371 |
| FAM | 364 |
| NAN | 361 |
| BET | 357 |
| AMC | 351 |
| SPK | 334 |
-
Total Day Average Viewers (Live+SD)
| Network | (000s) |
| TBSC | 1,710 |
| NICK | 1,661 |
| DSNY | 1,659 |
| USA | 1,374 |
| ADSM | 1,286 |
| ESPN | 1,154 |
| FOXN | 1,070 |
| NAN | 1,068 |
| TNT | 998 |
| TOON | 898 |
| FX | 820 |
| HIST | 717 |
| A&E | 665 |
| FOOD | 620 |
| HGTV | 588 |
| MTV | 569 |
| LIFE | 559 |
| TRU | 552 |
| SYFY | 540 |
| NKJR | 527 |
| DISC | 527 |
| CMDY | 508 |
| TVLD | 477 |
| TLC | 475 |
| HALL | 460 |
-
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2011 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Cable Channel Abbreviations: NICK = Nickelodeon, NAN = Nick At Nite, TOON = Cartoon Network, ADSM = Adult Swim, TRU = truTV, LIFE = Lifetime, NKJR - Nick Jr., FAM = ABC Family, TVLD = TV Land, FOXN = Fox News, TBSC = TBS, DISC = Discovery
