USA Network hit a ratings speed bump last week on its dominant run of the summer ratings charts as Disney Channel last week tied the "Characters Welcome" network for top honors.
Disney, on the strength of the season four premiere of hit show Hannah Montana, averaged 2.7 million viewers, finishing in a first place tie with USA during the week of July 5 to July 11, according to an Disney-ABC TV analysis of Nielsen data. USA had won the previous five summer 2010 weekly ratings races.
TNT finished third for the week with 2.4 million viewers followed by History and ABC Family Channel, with both networks averaging 1.8 million watchers. Nick-At-Nite, Fox News and ESPN (all tied with 1.7 million viewers), A&E (1.5 million viewers) and Syfy (1.4 million) rounded out the top 10.
NBA star LeBron James' much ballyhooed July 8 The Decision special on ESPN drew nearly 10 million viewers to finish as the most watched show during the week among all key audience demos, according to Turner Research.
Top 10 Most Watched Shows For The Week*:
Date Show Network Viewers
7/8/10 The Decision ESPN 9.9 million
7/5/10 Pawn Stars History 6.3 million
7/5/10 Pawn Stars History 6.1 million
7/11/10 Hannah Montana Forever Disney 5.7 million
7/6/10 Deadliest Catch Discovery 5.2 million
7/5/10 Spongebob Squarepants Nickelodeon 5.1 million
7/6/10 WWE Entertainment USA 5.1 million
7/11/10 Good Luck Charlie Disney 5.0 million
7/5/10 American Pickers History 5.0 million
7/10/10 Sprint Cup Racing TNT 4.6 million
*Week of July 5 to July 11
Source: Source: Disney-ABC Television Group analysis of Nielsen data.
