Anna Nicole Smith proved to be the biggest overall, yet it was Turner
Network Television that copped first place in primetime among households and key
adult demos last week.
E! Entertainment Television's Aug. 4 premiere of The Anna Nicole Show
was the tops in basic-cable primetime with a 4.1 household rating.
However, TNT -- bolstered by airings of theatrical U.S. Marshals and
off-network series Law & Order -- averaged a 2.0 household rating
from July 29 through Aug. 4, besting Lifetime Television's 1.9, according to a
Turner Entertainment Research analysis of Nielsen Media Research data.
There was a three-way tie for third as Nickelodeon, USA Network and Cartoon
Network each posted a 1.5.
TBS Superstation was sixth with a 1.4, ahead of ESPN (1.3), A&E Network
(1.2) and Fox News Channel (1.0). Seven networks had a piece of the
10th spot with 0.9 averages: Discovery Channel, Cable News Network,
ABC Family, TNN: The National Network, MTV: Music Television, The Learning
Channel and Sci Fi Channel.
On a total-day basis, Nickelodeon, per usual, held the household lead with a
1.7, well in front of Cartoon (1.3), Lifetime (1.1), TBS (1.0) and TNT
(0.9).
TNT's primetime score for the week also manifested itself among the adult
demos. The general-entertainment network averaged 487,000 18-through-34
watchers, 1.13 million adults 18 through 49 and 1.22 million adults 25 through
54.
In each case, USA was second averaging 487,000, 1 million and 1.06 million of
those respective watchers last week.
Anna Nicole's premiere -- which was the network's
highest-rated show ever and tied FXx's The Shield as the
second-highest-rated series debut behind the 4.7 mark garnered by USA's The
Dead Zone -- edged out the 4.0 pinned by the second hour of TNN's World
Wrestling Entertainment Inc. fare July 29. The first hour of grappling that
night was fifth for the week with a 3.4.
In between: a 3.5 for the debut of Steve Spurrier's 'Fun `N Gun' offense
during ESPN's coverage of the National Football League preseason game between
the Washington Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers; and the Aug. 2 installment
of USA's hit detective series, Monk, which also grabbed a 3.5.
Rounding out the top 10 shows in primetime last week: a trio of SpongeBob
SquarePants episodes (a 3.2 and a 3.0 July 29, a 3.1 Aug. 4) from Nick;
ESPN's coverage of the Aug. 4 Major League Baseball game between the Atlanta
Braves and St. Louis Cardinals (3.1); and Nick's Hey Arnold (a 3.0 Aug. 4).
