Led by Barack Obama’s acceptance speech and other coverage of the Democratic National Convention, CNN took the top spot and seven of the top ten in this week’s top twenty. Fox News’ best placement was at number 12, though FNC took two other spots in this week’s top twenty. MSNBC’s best placement was thirteenth, it’s only spot in the top 20 (or for that matter the top forty). Racking up over 7.4 million viewers, The Closer took the second spot.
I’m not sure if WWE RAW really ran on SciFi on 8/25 (something seems quite appropriate about that and NBC Universal owns both SciFi and USA) but that’s what Nielsen listed in the spreadsheet. While ranked 33rd out of 40 shows on a households ratings basis, because it gets more viewers per household, it shot up all the way to number 15 when ranked by viewers. Update via commenter Bryan: It did run on SciFi because US Open Tennis coverage aired on USA Network, though it also aired delayed on USA as well.
A sampling of popular shows not in the top 20, but among the top 40 (we’re limited by Nielsen to publishing tables of only 20 shows, sorry!) were Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place with 3.739 million, ABC Family’s Secret Life of An American Teen (3.649 million), Bravo’s Project Runway with (3.547 million) and a slew of SpongeBob and other convention coverage.
Full Top 20 Cable Results for the week ending 08/31/2008:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY(S) | Live+SD HH Rating | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/28/2008 | CNN | THURSDAY | 5.1 | 8,056 |
| 2 | CLOSER, THE | TNT | MONDAY | 4.9 | 7,415 |
| 3 | NASCAR SPRINT CUP L (PEPSI 500 AT CALIFORNIA) | ESPN | SUNDAY | 3.3 | 5,638 |
| 4 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/28/2008 | CNN | THURSDAY | 3.8 | 5,529 |
| 5 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/27/2008 | CNN | WEDNESDAY | 3.5 | 5,375 |
| 6 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/27/2008 | CNN | WEDNESDAY | 3.3 | 4,926 |
| 7 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/26/2008 | CNN | TUESDAY | 3.3 | 4,802 |
| 8 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/25/2008 | CNN | MONDAY | 2.9 | 4,525 |
| 9 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/28/2008 | CNN | THURSDAY | 2.9 | 4,319 |
| 10 | SAVING GRACE | TNT | MONDAY | 3.0 | 4,268 |
| 11 | SR/DNC 2008(S)-08/25/2008 | CNN | MONDAY | 2.8 | 4,240 |
| 12 | YOU DEC 08-DEM CONVENTION(S)-08/28/2008 | FOXNC | THURSDAY | 2.7 | 4,229 |
| 13 | MSNBC SPECIAL COVERAGE | MSNBC | THURSDAY | 2.4 | 4,097 |
| 14 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | SCIFI | MONDAY | 2.3 | 4,091 |
| 15 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.6 | 4,090 |
| 16 | NFL PRE-SEASON FOOTBALL L (SEAHAWKS/CHARGERS) | ESPN | MONDAY | 2.7 | 4,005 |
| 17 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.5 | 3,973 |
| 18 | HANNAH MONTANA | DSNY | SUNDAY | 2.5 | 3,920 |
| 19 | THE OREILLY FACTOR | FOXNC | FRIDAY | 2.7 | 3,909 |
| 20 | HAPPENING NOW | FOXNC | FRIDAY | 2.6 | 3,859 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
WWE RAW did run on Sci-Fi due to US Open tennis on USA during its normal timeslot. It also ran on USA on a tape delay following the US Open.
thanks Bryan! I’ve updated the post.
Did any US Open broadcasts on USA finish in the top 40?
– Paulsen
Paulsen, nope.
Ouch! Darn politics destroyed the list this week.
What was the ratings for The Hills Last Week (8/25/08)? Thanks.
The Hills had 3.43 million on 8/25.