Due to lack of data availability, we may be suffering a Nielsen data inferiority complex. In an attempt at compensating, we’ve pulled together some more cable data from a few sources (primarily USA Today) with the live plus same day DVR viewing numbers (Live+SD). Still no Mad Men numbers, sorry.
Last Monday’s (8/18) season four premiere of The Hills pulled in 3.5 million, down a couple hundred thousand from the season three premiere of 3.7 million. Law & Order: CI ended its seventh season on a pretty high note with 5.2 million viewers.
| Rank | Shows | NET | Viewers Live+SD (millions) |
| 1 | The Closer | TNT | 6.4 |
| 2 | Cheetah Girls: One World | DIS | 6.2 |
| 3 | Law & Order: CI | USA | 5.2 |
| 4 | NASCAR Sprint Cup | ESPN | 5.0 |
| 5 | WWE Raw | USA | 5.0 |
| 6 | WWE Raw | USA | 4.8 |
| 7 | Monk | USA | 4.6 |
| 8 | Psych | USA | 4.0 |
| 9 | Secret Life of an American Teen | FAM | 3.9 |
| 9 | Burn Notice | USA | 3.9 |
| 11 | Saving Grace | TNT | 3.8 |
| 12 | The Hills | MTV | 3.5 |
| Ghost Hunters International | SciFi | 2.1 | |
| America’s Best Dance Crew | MTV | 1.9 | |
| Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels | A&E | 1.1 | |
| The Cho Show | VH1 | 0.6 | |
| Glam God w/Vivica A. Fox | VH1 | 0.3 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
BTW, I just watched the L&O:CI season finale on the DVR, it was very good, and of course a Goren/Eames episode (which you already could tell by the 5m+ viewership number).
The previous week's Nolan/Wheeler “finale” (and Chris Noth's [Nolan] final show) drew only 4.6 million.