Disney Channel Wins Weekly Ratings Race

Disney Channel wore cable's weekly ratings gold for the second week in a row last week in the midst of strong competition from NBC's London Summer Olympics coverage.

Disney averaged 2.5 million viewers for the period of Aug. 6 to Aug. 12, besting USA Network's 2.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. TNT finished third with 1.9 million viewers, followed by Fox News, A&E and TBS, which tied with 1.6 million viewers.

History (1.5 million viewers), AMC, Syfy and Adult Swim (tied with 1.1 million) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week.

TBS was the most watched network among viewers 18-34 and 18-49 for the week, while USA Network was the choice among viewers 25-54, according to Nielsen.

Cable networks performed well despite continued fierce completion from the Summer Olympics. Overall, NBC averaged 31.1 million viewers over 17 nights in primetime, making it the most-watched non-U.S. Summer Olympics since 1976.

Disney also racked up another ratings win on a 24-hour basis with 1.9 million viewers, besting Nickelodeon's 1.8 million. Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and USA Network finished behind the category front runners.

The Closer's penultimate episode finished the week as the most watched show, averaging 6 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The week also featured a strong performance from HBO's vampire-themed series True Blood, which drew 4.4 million viewers, while two drama series-- A&E's Longmire and TNT's Dallas - drew 4.3 million and 4.2 million respectively for their freshman season finales, according to Nielsen.

VH1's reality series Love and Hip Hop Atlanta was the most watched show among adults 18-34 and 18-49, while A&E Storage Wars was tops among adults 25-54.

Most Watched Shows For The Week*
1 8/6/2012  THE CLOSER,                           TNT                  6.0 million
2 8/6/2012 WWE ENTERTAINMENT           USA                 4.6 million
3 8/12/2012 TRUE BLOOD                          HBO                 4.4 million
4 8/12/2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP          ESPN               4.4 million
5 8/6/2012 WWE ENTERTAINMENT          USA                  4.4 million
6 8/12/2012 LONGMIRE                               A&E                  4.3 million
7 8/8/2012 DALLAS                                       TNT                  4.2 million
8 8/10/2012 GRAVITY FALLS                       DISNEY           4.1 million
9 8/6/2012 PERCEPTION                            TNT                  4.0 million
10 8/9/2012 BURN NOTICE                        USA                  4.0 million

Week of Aug. 6 to 12
Source: Nielsen