Note: earlier I inadvertently posted the live numbers rather than the live plus same day DVR numbers (the most common Nielsen currency these days). I apologize for any confusion this may have caused, especially if as a result your favorite show was underreported!
While many baseball pundits suggest that it’s time to nix the Home Run Derby from the MLB All Star Game week festivities, that hardly seems likely. Over two hour and forty minutes worth of the 2008 Home Run Derby averaged 9.116 million over 1.3 million more than The Closer’s 7.809 million. And those are no shabby numbers for The Closer. So yeah, Home Run Derby will be around a while.
The Home Run Derby intro of about nine minutes wound up being counted separately and it placed third. Monk, USA’s highest rated show for the week came in fourth and Avatar: Sozin’s Comet came in fifth with 5.585 million viewers. Avatar also took the 13-15 spots. Burn Notice and In Plain Sight continue to do well for USA, though not as well as Saving Grace (#6, 5.156 million)
Not in the top 20 list below but in the Top 40 were seventeen SpongeBob airings, one Family Guy (#23), a repeat of The Closer (#25) and the Celebrity Softball Game from the All Star Game festivities (#36).
Full Top 20 Cable Results for the week ending 07/20/2008:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY(S) | Live+SD HH Rating | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | HOME RUN DERBY | ESPN | MONDAY | 5.5 | 9,116 |
| 2 | CLOSER, THE | TNT | MONDAY | 5.2 | 7,809 |
| 3 | HOME RUN DERBY PRE | ESPN | MONDAY | 3.8 | 6,030 |
| 4 | MONK | USA | FRIDAY | 3.6 | 5,639 |
| 5 | AVATAR: SOZINS COMET | NICK | SATURDAY | 3.1 | 5,585 |
| 6 | SAVING GRACE | TNT | MONDAY | 3.5 | 5,156 |
| 7 | PSYCH | USA | FRIDAY | 3.0 | 4,890 |
| 8 | BURN NOTICE | USA | THURSDAY | 3.3 | 4,865 |
| 9 | LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG) | USA | SUNDAY | 3.1 | 4,834 |
| 10 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | USA | MONDAY | 2.8 | 4,789 |
| 11 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | USA | MONDAY | 2.6 | 4,715 |
| 12 | IN PLAIN SIGHT | USA | SUNDAY | 3.2 | 4,688 |
| 13 | AVATAR | NICK | FRIDAY | 2.7 | 4,530 |
| 14 | AVATAR | NICK | THURSDAY | 2.5 | 4,230 |
| 15 | AVATAR: BOILING ROCK | NICK | WEDNESDAY | 2.4 | 3,971 |
| 16 | LAW & ORDER: SVU | USA | SUNDAY | 2.6 | 3,890 |
| 17 | HANNAH MONTANA | DSNY | SUNDAY | 2.5 | 3,797 |
| 18 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SUNDAY | 2.4 | 3,748 |
| 19 | WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE | DSNY | SUNDAY | 2.5 | 3,693 |
| 20 | ARMY WIVES | LIF | SUNDAY | 2.6 | 3,653 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Yikes, I may have grabbed the live numbers and not the LIVE+SD. Will check, thanks.
usa better try something new beside that “quirky characters under blue skies” requirement for all their new shows…its getting tired and old ….look at burn notice and in plain sight…not exactly burning up the ratings………usa would now turn down david chase and the sopranos if it was a new idea that was brought to them…
Tyrone, while I know at least a couple television critics who agree with you, mostly those shows are doing pretty well — though they certainly looked worse when I had inadvertently not included same day DVR usage. Though I enjoyed The Wire more, I do enjoy both Burn Notice and In Plain Sight.
Hi Mr Seidman,
May you please post the live figures just for comparisons sake?
Thanks
Hi Rich. I had the live numbers posted by accident. Those numbers wind up causing a lot of confusion because they're not available widely so I'm definitely against posting them separately. For a variety of reasons, posting them with the LIVE+SD numbers isn't a task I want to pick up right now. Sorry.
Actually, I think USA and FX have hit on the new trend. TV shows based not on a situation or location (Seinfeld, Friends, Every Hospital or Police Dept, etc) and based them on a (mostly) singular lead character who is very interesting. <br><br>Think of the spawns (who are not only pretty good ratings drivers but are also creating great advertising revenue streams and DVD sales): Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, The Closer, Saving Grace. The shows are totally character driven and they can take the character anywhere they want.<br><br>On the pay cable side, I really miss The Wire and Deadwood. I can easily see movie ops for at least Deadwood although David Milch could literally pick it up from where they left it since the last episode really wasn't an ending at all.