USA, ESPN share cable spoils

By Anthony Crupi

LOS ANGELES (Mediaweek) - While USA Network returned to its customary perch atop the cable ratings heap last week, averaging 3.5 million viewers in primetime, the cable network couldn't hold off ESPN in the core demos.

For the week ending November 1, ESPN retained its hold on vieres aged 25-54 (1.6 million), 18-49 (1.5 million) and 18-34 (717,000), as pro and college football helped stave off USA's strong original-series numbers.

The sports network might have been hampered by a mediocre "Monday Night Football" draw in the October 26 Eagles-Redskins matchup. Philadelphia's Eagles dispatched a crumbling Washington team 27-17 in an NFC East contest that featured just seven points scored in the second half. Drawing 12.8 million viewers, the Eagles-'Skins game ranks as the second-lowest-rated "MNF" telecast of the year, trailing only the second game of the season-opening doubleheader, a Chargers-Raiders pairing that drew 11.9 million viewers September 14.

That said, "MNF" still accounted for the week's biggest demo deliveries, serving up 6.9 million viewers aged 18-49 and 6.8 million aged 25-54.

USA's roster of original dramas, acquisitions and "WWE Raw" helped secure second place among the demos. The network averaged 1.5 million viewers aged 25-54, 1.3 million aged 18-49 and 571,000 aged 18-34, according to Nielsen ratings data.

The second installment of USA's "White Collar" drew 5.1 million viewers Friday night, retaining an impressive 94% of its premiere delivery (5.4 million).

USA posted its biggest numbers with the October 26 "WWE Raw," which averaged 5.6 million viewers. It also drew a crowd with "Raw" lead-in "NCIS" (4.8 million) and ""White Collar" precursor "Monk" (4.7 million).

Third place on the week went to Fox News, which delivered 2.1 million total viewers, of which 538,000 were members of the 25-54 demo.

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