via press release:
USA’s BURN NOTICE DELIVERS RECORD ON THURSDAY NIGHT
USA’s Newest Hit ROYAL PAINS Grows by Double Digits
NEW YORK, NEW YORK July 17, 2009 USA’s dynamic hit series BURN NOTICE delivered series highs last night in P25-54 (3.1 million) and total viewers (6.7 million); the series also delivered double digit growth in each demo vs the previous week (up +25% in P25-54 and +21% total viewers). The show also delivered an increase in P18-49 (up +17%), #2 of all time at 2.6 million. BURN NOTICE was the #1 scripted show on all of TV last night (both broadcast and cable) for P18-49 and P25-54, and #2 overall for both demos behind only So You Think You Can Dance.
USA’s newest hit series ROYAL PAINS also experience growth last night, jumping from last week’s episode in P25-54 (2.9 million, up +12%), P18-49 (2.5 million, up +13%) and total viewers (6.2 million, up +9%). ROYAL PAINS, which was #2 on cable behind only BURN NOTICE, beat all broadcast scripted shows last night among P18-49, P18-34,.
USA beat the #2 cable network TBS by 207% P25-54 and 126% P18-49.
USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in 94 million U.S. homes. A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and is home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.
USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
Both were strong episodes but its nice to see burn back on top, as it should be, I like Pains but its just not as good.
Burn Notice and Royal Pains are doing great and USA are showing why they are the to cable network and the jewel of NBC Universal.
They still have Monk, Psych and White Collar coming up and IPS and Law and Order:CI are doing good but not great business.
The cable nets are happy this week. Leverage and Dark Blue had strong premieres for TNT. Warehouse 13 kept most of it’s viewers from last week for Sci-fi. Now Burn Notice gets the highest ratings of the series for USA. AMC can’t get viewers, but they did get Emmy noms, so they can be happy too.
Good for both shows. I prefer Burn Notice to Royal Pains, though I do find the latter to be an interesdting take on the health-care system. While Burn Notice is escapist piece of comedic melodrama, albiet a well-acted one. Hopefully CI and IPS can get back up above 4 million viewers.
i finally saw an episode of royal pains last night for first time without using on demand
i forgot to watch burn notice but i watched warehouse 13 on and it was pretty good too
Royal Pains lost me after two episodes. Meanwhile, Burn Notice continues to rock hard.
Well they did a bit with a dog last night so it work out pretty good but Pains just doesn’t have a lasting premise, I’ll still keep watchin not like there is anything else on this summer.
I love burn notice, and royal pains. i also love warehouse 13 and eureka. I hope CI and IPS can stay on the air i really love those shows too.
Good for Burn Notice! I’ve given up on Royal Pains. I’ve decided it’s not that interesting.
Not that I wish ill on Royal Pains, but I just don’t understand what all the fuss was about. Burn Notice is such a better show and deserves the better ratings.
I like “Burn Notice” than “Royal Pains it kinda bore Me B N” takes the cake. I love ME some Michael Westen. pray for a 4 season keep oning strong usa network.
Burn Notice is one of my favorite shows. It appears USA has a winner in this series.
However; Royal Pains is dull and boring.
Do the right thing & keep Burn Notice – perhaps sinking more effort to promoting Burn Notice (although it is out there for all to see)
As a media buyer I’m glad to see the USA Network continue its’ consistent programming of fresh, new series and reaping the ratings rewards.
It’s easy for others to compare Burn Notice and Royal Pains since they’re on back-to-back but they couldn’t be more different. I’m a big fan of both but find Royal Pains to be the freshest and enjoyable update on the tired medical themes we’ve watched for so many years.
I love Royal pains and I’m glad to see it consistently doing well. I never cared for Burn notice. if I want a funny spy show I’ll watch Chuck or Get Smart reruns and If I want a serious spy show I’ll watch La Femme Nikita. I think Royal Pains has what it takes to be a lasting series. There are hundreds of diseases and fictional rich people to have them out there.
I don’t see how you can own a TV and not know about Burn Notice. I must say I just noticed the comment above ( La Femme Nikita reference caught my eye, ) and I think Chrisjozo summed up just the gut feeling I get about a show I honestly have never watched for more than five minutes : the ” edgy, quirky ” comedy spy or cop show genre to me is dull, taking the worst part of each genre, setting it on a beach locale,throwing in eye candy and plot twists risque for twelve year olds …well, I mean its LCD all the way, like Monk and Closer, and it works for them – but Billie Mayes worked well for hand soap and I would have never have ever wanted to drink a beer with him. “Hey!! Pal!! Wanna by a sobriety pill!!!!”
Burn Notice isn’t a “comedy spy show” like Get Smart. It’s not even a “dramedy” like Chuck. It’s a serious spy show with comedic touches involved in the characterization. You could perhaps call it a satire on spy shows. But it’s more serious than, say, the old “Flint” movies with James Coburn in the Sixties.
You could say it’s similar to Leverage because it involves a team running cons on the bad guys by breaking the law. So it’s more like a combo heist/spy movie than anything else. Essentially the espionage stuff is just there to give background to the main character and explain how he can pull off his cons, just like Nate Ford in Leverage is an ex-insurance investigation to explain how he pull off cons. Michael’s being “burned” is essentially the same device as Nate Ford’s son dying – the reason the character is acting “out of character”.
I predicted earlier in the year that Burn Notice would hit 10 million viewers (counting Live+7). With the mid-season finale coming up and the show consistently getting better week-to-week, they may hit that number sooner rather than later. You can’t find a better show on television right now — in terms of the writing, the acting and the action. Plus the guest stars this season have been top-notch, save for the little debacle with Moon Bloodgood’s character (who had so little to do in four episodes it was ridiculous). Still, I’d love to see Det. Paxson return somewhere in the final seven episodes this winter. I’d be a shame to have such an important asset go to waste. After all, Michael Westen just doesn’t make friends that easily…
this summer has been great on cable this year
I have to say…..I HATE these summer fluff cable shows. HATE them. The only one I’ve been able to stand, despite it’s silly formula, is LEVERAGE. It actually entertains me. The others? From THE CLOSER, to BURN NOTICE, to ROYAL PAINS, to DARK BLUE, to PSYCH, to IN PLAIN SIGHT……ugh, ugh, ugh. I WISH I could have the time back spent on trying to watch all of the above. They suck beyond reason, and would be utter failures on broadcast TV during the regular TV season.
My suggestion for those enthralled by such mediocrity?
Read a book, instead.
^I’m currently reading 4 books and listening to a fifth….can I enjoy the shows now?
Holly, intelligent people are not allowed to enjoy television of any kind, merely study it as a symptom of our society’s ongoing journey to hell, via handbasket.
Oops, silly me.
Royal Pains is awesome! USA should keep this lineup together next summer as well.
@Bill, the intelligent elites of this world sometimes permit themselves to watch PBS; History channel; National Geographic channel; and Discovery channel.
I watched Burn Notice this week and loved it! Sharon Gless was wonderful. In a vain attempt to offset the lost brain cells, I made sure to watch a few History series this week regarding theoretical physics, relativity, parallel universes, antimatter, yadda yadda yadda. I’ll check out The Naked Arhaeologist tomorrow sometime – does he count as intelligent? Still haven’t read a book this week though.
Oh, and I suppose my repeated viewing of “Strange Brew” on DVR negates any claim of intelligence. Then again, it is based on Shakespearean drama; doesn’t that count for something?
Hey! Don’t knock PBS and Discovery. PBS has some useful cooking shows and the Masterpiece mini-series, and Discovery has Mythbusters
I must be out of the loop. I find this season of Burn Notice flat, boring, and redundant. Last seasons season ending episode led me to so much promise for this season. Unfortunately, this season IMO, has been an absolute creative failure. Michael no longer has Management backing him, he was supposed to have a more difficult and dangerous time without them. So far this season, it hasn’t been the case. He has yet to find and advisory that is his intellectual equal. I am sick of the cat and mouse relationship game that Michael and Fiona are playing.
I refuse to watch Royal Pains until they drop that stupid “system is broken” commercial. They over promoted the show to the point where I refuse to watch.
They do need to pick up the pace on Burn Notice in terms of where he stands vis-a-vis his burn because he still wants to know why and by whom (”Management” isn’t an answer, he doesn’t even know who they are), but I expect they will.
I still think his helping Paxson out with one of her cases sets the stage for both of them to get a bit friendlier and set up Paxson as a potential romantic problem for Fiona. I just hope they don’t take too long to do that, a la the “Josh Friedman wait until the last episode to do anything” approach.
I have to go to bat for Lisa,(not that she needs any help from me, obviously.) USA has a lot of fans, and you can ruffle feathers for daring to suggest their shows are fluff – get over it. They’re fluff. Fluff is not always bad, or at least, since on TV its like death and taxes, its inevitable. Should people like Lisa just be fatalistic like people were before Gilligan’s Island and Hogan’s Heroes and Bonanza were replaced by MASH and All in the Family, or Cannon and Barnaby Jones were replaced by Hill St Blues and Marcus Welby by St Elsewhere? I read a hundred books a year, but I work part-time and at home,and I enjoy such elitist effete shows sometimes as Married with Children, Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force -I am lucky I have managed to struggle through life to indulge both serious and crazy stupid interests. Twenty years ago I sort of liked Silk Stalkings – and probably Burn Notice is a cut above that ( though I insist on their rough equivalence as far as theme,tone, depth of feeling,etc. If it was an SAT I’d say Sopranoes analagous to Hill St, Burn Notice analagous to Silk Stalkings. I say tho: why even call what you like a guilty pleasure? If you like Harlequin Romances, you need to be able to take some criticism in a public forum, but also fight for your right to what you like. Same with soft core porn, hardcore, spy movies, romantic comedies, etc. But its sort of a low blow to mock somebody for saying ” Read a Book” Haven’t Chuck and Sarah Connor fans used much blunter instruments often enough in THEIR brilliant tirades?
@jay, So…It’s perfectly fine for Lisa to make an ad hominem attack on our intelligence for enjoying a TV show, but not OK for people to mock her for that attack? If we should be able to take criticism for our TV choices, you and Lisa should be able to take criticism for your sophomoric, condescending attitudes.
I LOVE Burn Notice.
I think if people like Lisa are as “smart” as they claim to be then they would not be wasting their time on message boards criticizing other people.
They would be reading a book,that is if they even know how to read.
Seriously,i doubt she is as smart as she thinks she is!
Well said, pink. Truly intelligent people don’t find it necessary to build themselves up by trying to bring others down.
To those of you who demand something more serious, more edgy, more brilliant than BN in the context of a one hour episode, I have one thing to say–Touching Evil–cancelled after one season. Too dark for the American audience the Execs said. I also loved La Femme Nakita, but dimissing the Burn as fluff is a mistake. Each episode uses some very clever writing to wrap up a main plot, dangle the thread of a subplot and keep you entertained by the banter and psychological dilemnas of a few very dysfunctional characters, not to mention the spycraft(love the voiceovers), some movie caliber stunts, and some solid performances by the cast–all within a 45 minute time span. The problem is they make it look too easy. Apparently, the Execs are right. Some really can’t see past the eye candy, which is why it’s there.
Good bye House MD
Hello Royal Pains !!!
I find it pretty funny that USA is doing better than it’s parent channel, NBC.
I’m glad that the shows I watch are doing well this summer. Its so exciting to hear about Burn Notice’s series high than Heroes series low week after week this year…
It seems so much better in the summer because shows don’t have to worry as much because cable is on the rise. It’s so much more nerve-racking to follow broadcast ratings because EVERYTHING is trending downwards…some more-so than others.
I hope that serial drama hits a high note this fall…i cannot stand episodic crap that CBS decides to put out each year…
I am so glad to hear that Burn Notice is back on top. I too watch Royal Pains each week, but goodness, it is nowhere near the quality of Burn Notice. The plots, acting, relationships, and dialogue all go to Burn Notice in my opinion.
I believe someone mentioned how Michael’s life doesn’t seem harder now that he has lost the protection of the company (or whatever the group’s name was that the dad from Frasier worked for), I thought this past weeks episode showed that it did. He was kidnapped and then hunted for goodness sake! Maybe I am missing something though (I watch a lot of tv and it is difficult to remember all the points of the different plots).
Wow
Burn Notice, Royal Pains, and WWE RAW’s two hours are always around 6 million. USA and these three tv shows are the King of Cable and i dont think anybody can dispute that
I am getting a little bit of pleasure over BN getting higher numbers than RP last week, because I do think it is the better show. But both of them are doing great.
USA really has a strong line-up. IPS and CI are a bit lower, but overall they post numbers that most cable networks would be very happy with. CI seems to be slipping a bit, but IPS is almost always the highest rated series and/or telecast for Sunday nights, which is pretty good considering it actually has some competition on Sunday nights from Lifetime, HBO, and the various award shows and movies that usually pop up on Sunday nights. USA’s Thursday shows are usually up against only repeats. That’s not to say that IPS and CI would suddenly get BN-type ratings if they were to move to a different night, because they probably wouldn’t. Just that they seem to be holding their own.
I think USA should hold onto this line up and just expand. I was kinda surprised that White Collar was debuting in the fall, but it might be a smart move to have original programming year-round, instead of just in the summer and a small block in the winter.
Save for the second and third episodes, I find Royal Pains to be getting stronger each week. I love how they addressed Divya’s personal life and, of course, brought Evan into that mix since I’m pretty firmly convinced those two are going to get together. But what I’m really looking forward to is this week’s episode because it looks like they’re finally going to address what’s going on with Boris, yay!
@ Kara: I disagree with you about CI slipping. The numbers for this season have been much better than last season (partially I think because of Goldblum’s entrance). This season has been a viewership uptick, not downturn.
Personally, I kind of wish CI and IPS were on a different night. However, I’m not exactly sure what night that would be and have no influence with USA Network at all. A girl can dream, right?
@Katy: My bad – for some reason I thought the numbers were higher last season. That is good news then, and even though CI doesn’t get Burn Notice numbers, it certainly isn’t doing badly.
Katy, unfortunately we don’t get season to date numbers on cable shows, and my memory is always prone to error, but my recollection is that Law & Order: CI isn’t doing as well in 2009 as it did in 2008.
Last season’s the Goren/Eames episodes typically did between 4-5 million viewers and the Logan/Wheeler episodes about a million less. It seems like this season even the Goren/Eames episodes aren’t doing 4 million viewers. If I am motivated to dig through individual weeks, I will post the numbers, but don’t hold your breath.
Lisa dear I doubt you wasted any time this summer on new episodes of Psych… as it is yet to premiere
That was the best Burn Notice I’ve seen in a while. High standards..by the way did anyone see how the star was being stupid and now has a DWI charge..ding dong.
Josh: Yep, I did. Apparently he almost played an impromptu game of bumper cars — with a police cruiser, no less. Almost as smart as the fellow in Iowa who took his motorcycle out for a spin at 123 mph in 30 mph zones Saturday night (reported today, though, in some news outlets). Let’s hope that Mr. Donovan’s misadventure was a one-time fluke, that he does appropriate penance, and that it doesn’t happen again.
@ Bill: I could very wrong. I thought I read somewhere that Season 8 was doing better than season 7. Don’t quote me on anything and please don’t go to the trouble of digging through weeks.
Burn Notice should be #1, so I’m happy