With 3 college football games among the top 25 cable shows, ESPN topped the primetime cable viewership and adults 18-49 ratings for the week ending September 12, while Disney stayed in second for viewership, and the Video Music Awards and Jersey Shore helped MTV move into second for adults 18-49. All this kept typical summertime leader USA Network in third place.
Expect ESPN to stay at or near the top of the cable ratings as long as football season continues. It could be challenged by TBS if the latter gets a good matchup/series during the baseball playoffs.
Not even football can challenge SpongeBob in his pineapple under the sea, as Nickelodeon remained at the top of the total day average viewership rankings.
Prime-time Average Viewers (Live+SD) Week of September 6-12, 2010
| Network | (000s) |
| ESPN | 3,742 |
| DSNY | 2,841 |
| USA | 2,757 |
| MTV | 2,669 |
| TNT | 2,332 |
| HIST | 2,250 |
| FOXN | 1,734 |
| A&E | 1,733 |
| ESP2 | 1,646 |
| NAN | 1,594 |
| TBSC | 1,444 |
| FX | 1,396 |
| AMC | 1,372 |
| TOON | 1,389 |
| HGTV | 1,370 |
| FAM | 1,262 |
| SYFY | 1,205 |
| LIFE | 1,185 |
| DISC | 1,064 |
| FOOD | 1,030 |
| TLC | 1,002 |
| TRU | 964 |
| BRAV | 959 |
| CMDY | 946 |
| LMN | 722 |
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Adults 18-49 Prime-time Average (Live+SD)
| Network | (000s) |
| ESPN | 1,804 |
| MTV | 1,754 |
| USA | 1,047 |
| HIST | 1,016 |
| TNT | 913 |
| TBSC | 880 |
| FX | 753 |
| A&E | 709 |
| ESP2 | 623 |
| BRAV | 586 |
| DSNY | 586 |
| CMDY | 574 |
| DISC | 570 |
| FAM | 561 |
| SYFY | 541 |
| LIFE | 534 |
| TLC | 505 |
| TRU | 498 |
| HGTV | 486 |
| FOOD | 486 |
| EN | 459 |
| NAN | 450 |
| SPK | 375 |
| AMC | 363 |
| BET | 356 |
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Total Day Average Viewers (Live+SD)
| Network | (000s) |
| NICK | 2,012 |
| DSNY | 1,765 |
| ESPN | 1,487 |
| NAN | 1,442 |
| USA | 1,264 |
| TNT | 1,264 |
| HIST | 1,113 |
| TOON | 1,112 |
| ADSM | 1,099 |
| FOXN | 1,032 |
| MTV | 932 |
| A&E | 868 |
| TBSC | 801 |
| FX | 769 |
| HGTV | 761 |
| FAM | 671 |
| AMC | 670 |
| LIFE | 668 |
| ESP2 | 664 |
| DISC | 660 |
| TRU | 649 |
| NKJR | 531 |
| FOOD | 623 |
| SYFY | 555 |
| CMDY | 524 |
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Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2010 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Cable Channel Abbreviations: NICK = Nickelodeon, NAN = Nick At Nite, TOON = Cartoon Network, ADSM = Adult Swim, TRU = truTV, LIFE = Lifetime, NKJR – Nick Jr., FAM = ABC Family, TVLD = TV Land, FOXN = Fox News, TBSC = TBS, DISC = Discovery