Finally, the Nielsen gods have smiled on us and released the weekly top show data into our grubby little hands! When Nielsen data is your "manna from heaven" let there be no doubt that you've sinned at least a little bit...
And If there was any doubt in your mind whether I really have that much more of a preference for 6.445 million vs. 6.4 million, have no doubt! Since atypically I took a look at the "live viewing only" numbers for the week, it is interesting to see that although the Cheetah Girls: One World movie nipped The Closer in live viewing by a mere 9,000 people, nearly three hundred thousand more people watched The Closer on DVR the same night it aired.
As Bill Gorman notes, the performance by the season finale of Law & Order: CI with the Goren/Eames team with 5.15 million viewers eclipsed the ratings of the final installment of the Logan/Wheeler team. Chris Noth's exit as Logan the previous week drew 4.6 million. Considering the Olympic-sized competition, I'd guess USA is happy with the numbers for both airings, and I doubt Chris Noth's ego is bruised much in the process.
Monk and Psych continued to fare well against the Olympics and while many (myself included) originally scratched heads pondering why NBC Universal's own USA Network would "waste" fresh episodes against the Olympics it certainly appears this is another thing that NBC got right. Other than the opening ceremonies on Friday, the other two Olympic Fridays were among the top 3 least-viewed Olympic airings on NBC.
I probably will hold off on the "Secret Life of an American Teen has more viewers than Gossip Girl" post until next week. But "Teen" deserves some credit.
Not in the top 20 table below but in the top 40 were: ten more SpongeBob related airings, the season premiere of The Hills (3.483 million), Hannah Montana (3.443 million), LOTR: Return of the King on TNT (3.348 million), Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place (3.285 million), Bravo's Project Runway (3.202 million), Nick's Back at the Barnyard (3.197 million) and 5 at 5 (3.158 million) and two airings of Law & Order: SVU reruns on USA (3.08 million and 2.901 million).
Full Top 20 Cable Results for the week ending 08/24/2008:
| Rank | Shows | NET | DAY(S) | Live+SD HH Rating | Viewers Live+SD (000) |
| 1 | CLOSER, THE | TNT | MONDAY | 4.3 | 6,445 |
| 2 | CHEETAH GIRLS ONE WORLD | DSNY | FRIDAY | 3.6 | 6,176 |
| 3 | LAW & ORDER: CI (ORIG) | USA | SUNDAY | 3.3 | 5,150 |
| 4 | NASCAR SPRINT CUP L (BRISTOL, TN) | ESPN | SATURDAY | 3.0 | 4,997 |
| 5 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | USA | MONDAY | 2.9 | 4,966 |
| 6 | WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) | USA | MONDAY | 2.8 | 4,763 |
| 7 | SPONGEBOB THE MOVIE | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.9 | 4,690 |
| 8 | MONK | USA | FRIDAY | 2.9 | 4,577 |
| 9 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.5 | 3,977 |
| 10 | PSYCH | USA | FRIDAY | 2.5 | 3,956 |
| 11 | SECRET LIFE/AMERICAN TEEN | FAM | TUESDAY | 2.4 | 3,909 |
| 12 | S HANNAH MONTANA(S)-08/22/2008 | DSNY | FRIDAY | 2.4 | 3,901 |
| 13 | BURN NOTICE | USA | THURSDAY | 2.5 | 3,864 |
| 14 | SAVING GRACE | TNT | MONDAY | 2.6 | 3,779 |
| 15 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.5 | 3,729 |
| 16 | CHEETAH GIRLS ONE WORLD | DSNY | SATURDAY | 2.3 | 3,680 |
| 17 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.4 | 3,621 |
| 18 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | SATURDAY | 2.4 | 3,546 |
| 19 | NFL PRE-SEASON FOOTBALL L (BROWNS/GIANTS) | ESPN | MONDAY | 2.5 | 3,534 |
| 20 | SPONGEBOB | NICK | MONDAY | 2.1 | 3,501 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
