ESPN Tops Weekly Ratings Race

Steelers-Broncos 'MNF' Contest Draws Weekly Cable Best 16 Million Viewers

by R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 11/18/2009 5:04:00 PM

Led by the 16 million viewers who tuned into the network's Nov. 9 Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Broncos Monday Night Football telecast, ESPN averaged a 2.7 household rating to finish first among all basic cable networks for the week of Nov. 9 through Nov. 15, according to Nielsen.
USA Network finished second with a 2.2 rating, while Fox News finished a distant third with a 1.8 rating. Filling out the top 10 most watched networks were Disney Channel (1.7 rating); Nick At Nite (1.5); TBS and TNT (tied at 1.4); Cartoon Network and A&E (tied at 1.1) and HGTV, FX, ESPN2, History and Syfy (all tied at 1.0).
On a total day basis, Nickelodeon was tops with a 1.8 rating, followed by sister service Nick At Nite (1.3); Disney Channel and USA Network (tied at 1.2); and ESPN and Fox News Network (tied at 1.1).
While ESPN's Monday Night Football contest was the most watched cable show for the week, Nickelodeon dominated the weekly show viewership chart by securing half of the top 10 slots. The kids- targeted network's comedy series iCarly took three of those slots, including a Nov. 14 original episode that drew a second best 5 million viewers for the week.

Top 10 Most Watched Shows For The Week*

1. Monday Night Football                       11/9                  ESPN                    16 million
2. iCarly                                                     11/14               Nickelodeon           5 million
3.Suite Life On Deck                              11/13               Disney Channel  4.7 million
4.Spongebob Truth Or Square             11/14              Nickelodeon         4.6 million
5.Penguins Of Madagascar                  11/14              Nickelodeon         4.4 million
6.i Carly Movie: Go To Japan                11/11              Nickelodeon         4.4 million
7.iCarly                                                      11/11              Nickelodeon          4.4 million
8.iCarly Movie: Shelby Marx                   11/11              Nickelodeon          4.4 million
9.WWE Entertainment                            11/19              USA Network         4.4 million
10. Monk                                                    11/13             USA Network          4.3 million
* Week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 15
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group analysis of Nielsen Media Research

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