Courtesy Media Week

(May 14, 2008) Buoyed by its NBA playoff coverage, TNT last week hashed out its second prime time ratings win of the year, edging rival USA Network by some 18,000 viewers.

According to Nielsen Media Research data for the week ended May 11, TNT averaged 2.86 million total viewers in prime, besting USA, which delivered 2.84 million viewers. The two nets also finished in the one and two spots among the major demos, with TNT enjoying a larger margin of victory in all three categories.

Among adults 18-49, TNT averaged 1.58 million viewers, while USA served up 1.38 million. The Turner net won the 25-54 set with 1.53 million viewers, surpassing USA's 1.36 million, and took 18-34s with 799,000. For its part, USA averaged 613,000 viewers in the younger demo.

On the week, USA boasted ad-supported cable's most-watched program of the week, riding the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull hype with its May 10 screening of the franchise cornerstone Raiders of the Lost Ark, which scared up 5.63 million viewers from approximately 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. USA claimed six of the top 20 top-rated programs, thanks to the two-hour WWE Raw, which averaged 4.63 million viewers on the night of May 5, and weekend screenings of the other two films in the Indy trilogy.

TNT claimed three of the top 20 programs on ad-supported cable, notching its best number with game one of the Eastern Conference semifinals, which on May 6 drew 4.87 million viewers. The Boston Celtics kicked off the semis at home, eking out a 76-72 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which were hampered by LeBron James' uncharacteristically cold shooting hand (2-18 from the floor, .111).

The Celts-Cavs opener also notched the week's largest concentration of viewers 18-49, averaging 3.06 million. USA's presentation of Raiders topped all comers in the 25-54 space (3.05 million), while MTV's The Hills ran away with the 18-34 audience, averaging 2.16 million May 5.

Third place among total viewers went to Nick-at-Nite, which averaged 1.81 million, while ESPN landed in fourth with a delivery of 1.77 million. The sports net boasted the second most-watched program on ad-supported cable, as 4.95 million fans tuned in on May 8 to see the defending champion San Antonio Spurs rally to beat the New Orleans Hornets 110-99 in game three of the Western Conference semifinals.

The May 6 Democratic primaries in Indiana and North Carolina helped Fox News Channel remain in the top five, as the network averaged 1.67 million viewers on the week. While CNN took the night with an averaged prime time delivery of 2.66 million viewers to FNC's 2.14 million, the bump was not enough to nudge CNN into the top 10. CNN finished eleventh overall, averaging 1.13 million viewers.

FNC also held off CNN in the core news demo, averaging 374,000 versus its rival's 368,000.

All told, basketball, Harrison Ford and the WWE accounted for eight of the week's top 10 deliveries of viewers 18-49. The two programs that did not fall into any of the aforementioned three categories were MTV's The Hills, which on May 5 averaged 2.63 million members of the demo, and Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch, which on Tuesday night lured 2.46 million 18-49s.

Non-ad-supported Disney Channel closed out the week in third place among the basic cable universe, averaging 1.82 million viewers.