On cable, one hot,
steamy Jersey summer
Shows about the Garden State set ratings records
By Toni Fitzgerald
Sep 9, 2010
Make all the Jersey jokes that you want. This summer the much-looked-down-upon Garden State has become the hottest state in the union, at least when it comes to cable TV.
On Sunday Style Network's second-season premiere of "Jerseylicious" became the latest New Jersey-themed show to draw big ratings, joining MTV's "Jersey Shore" and Bravo's "Real Housewives of New Jersey," both of which set series records last week.
"Jerseylicious" premiered to 390,000 total viewers Sunday night at 8 p.m., according to Nielsen, up 22 percent over its first-season premiere. The show, about a family-owned Jersey clothing salon, also drew a 0.5 rating among women 18-49 and a 0.55 among women 18-34, both five times the channel's primetime average last month.
That came nearly a week after part one of the two-part "RHONJ" reunion, which devolved into a shouting and shoving match, set a series record on Aug. 30 at 9 p.m. with 3.9 million total viewers and 2.7 million adults 18-49, also the best ever for any show in the "Housewives" franchise.
Finally, MTV's juggernaut "Jersey Shore" set yet another series record on Thursday at 10 p.m., averaging 6.5 million total viewers and a 3.3 18-49 rating – bettering everything else on cable and broadcast on the night, as well as drawing MTV's highest 12-34 rating in eight years.
So what's the key to New Jersey's new appeal?
It can be summed up in three words: screaming, scheming, dreaming. Those are the key ingredients to any good reality show, but they seem to be in especially high supply in these shows, and Jersey clearly supplies the over-the-top personalities that draw so well on reality TV.
The drama is over the top, all the time, as are the accents. It often seems no one really likes each other, at least while the cameras are rolling, and they aren't afraid to show it, which makes for good TV.
***
In cable ratings for the week ended Sept. 5:
Top five networks in primetime (18-49s): ESPN, USA, MTV, TBS, TNT.
Top five networks in primetime (total viewers): USA, ESPN, TNT, Fox News Channel, Nick at Nite.
Top five cable news networks in primetime (25-54): Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, HLN, CNBC.
Top five cable news programs (total viewers): 1. Fox News Channel's "The O’Reilly Factor" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.) 3.34 million; 2. Fox News Channel's "The O’Reilly Factor" (Tuesday, 8:24 p.m.) 3.18 million; 3. Fox News Channel's "Presidential Address" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.) 2.89 million; 4. Fox News Channel's "Hannity" (Monday, 9 p.m.) 2.65 million; 5. Fox News Channel's "Glenn Beck" (Monday, 5 p.m.) 2.6 million.
Top movie (18-49s): No movie during the week made the top 50 programs among 18-49s.
Top sporting event (total viewers): ESPN's "NASCAR Sprint Cup" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.) 5.52 million.
Shows making the top 10 among 18-34s, 18-49s and 25-54s: MTV's "Jersey Shore" (Thursday, 10 p.m.); Bravo's "Real Housewives of New Jersey" (Monday, 10 p.m.).
Show on the rise: MTV's "Jersey Shore" Thursday 10 p.m. Another week, another series record. The reality show averaged 6.54 million total viewers, up 12 percent from 5.82 million the previous week and good for another series best.
Show on the decline: History's "Swamp People" Sunday 10 p.m. Last week's episode averaged 1.57 million viewers 25-54, down 24 percent from 2.07 million the previous week.
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Ranked on Household Rating
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
Rank |
Primetime |
Total Day |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
USA
|
2086
|
NICK
|
1416
|
|
2
|
ESPN
|
1775
|
NAN
*
|
1384
|
|
3
|
TNT
|
1751
|
TNT
|
1058
|
|
4
|
FOXN
|
1438
|
USA
|
1021
|
|
5
|
NAN
|
1317
|
ADSM*
|
963
|
|
6
|
TBSC
|
1143
|
ESPN
|
955
|
|
7
|
HGTV
|
1088
|
FOXN
|
884
|
|
8
|
HIST
|
1056
|
TOON
|
837
|
|
9
|
TOON
|
1054
|
TBSC
|
687
|
|
10
|
MTV
|
1046
|
HGTV
|
606
|
|
11
|
AEN
|
1041
|
HIST
|
597
|
|
12
|
ESP2
|
953
|
AEN
|
592
|
|
13
|
LIF
|
944
|
TRU
|
579
|
|
14
|
TLC
|
885
|
MTV
|
537
|
|
15
|
TRU
|
879
|
LIF
|
529
|
|
16
|
FAM
|
850
|
FOOD
|
523
|
|
17
|
FX
|
837
|
DISC
|
520
|
|
18
|
FOOD
|
833
|
FX
|
470
|
|
19
|
AMC
|
826
|
ESP2
|
449
|
|
20
|
DISC
|
818
|
CMDY
|
447
|
|
21
|
BRAV
|
760
|
TVLD
|
444
|
|
22
|
SYFY
|
734
|
AMC
|
442
|
|
23
|
CMDY
|
728
|
SPK
|
439
|
|
24
|
TVLD
|
663
|
FAM
|
438
|
|
25
|
SPK
|
643
|
TLC
|
432
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
TOP 25 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE PROGRAMS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
Rank
|
Program |
Net
|
(000) |
|
1
|
The Closer
|
TNT
|
5761
|
|
2
|
Rizzoli & Isles
|
TNT
|
4949
|
|
3
|
Jersey
Shore
2
|
MTV
|
4661
|
|
4
|
Covert Affairs
|
USA
|
3958
|
|
5
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup
|
ESPN
|
3910
|
|
6
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
3639
|
|
7
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
3348
|
|
8
|
White Collar
|
USA
|
3264
|
|
9
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
3245
|
|
10
|
Jersey
Shore
After Hours
|
MTV
|
3224
|
|
11
|
Project Runway
|
LIF
|
3120
|
|
12
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
3116
|
|
13
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
3061
|
|
14
|
Real Housewives Of
New Jersey
|
BRAV
|
2989
|
|
15
|
NCIS
|
USA
|
2968
|
|
16
|
Penguins Of
Madagascar
|
NICK
|
2871
|
|
17
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2807
|
|
18
|
Leverage
|
TNT
|
2767
|
|
19
|
Penguins Of
Madagascar
|
NICK
|
2749
|
|
20
|
Psych
|
USA
|
2737
|
|
21
|
Oregon State/TCU
|
ESPN
|
2716
|
|
22
|
The O'Reilly Factor
|
FOXN
|
2631
|
|
23
|
Miami
(Oh)/
Florida
|
ESPN
|
2575
|
|
24
|
Teen Mom 2
|
MTV
|
2556
|
|
25
|
Spongebob
|
NICK
|
2521
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
TBSC
|
529
|
ADSM*
|
464
|
|
1
|
MTV
|
709
|
ADSM*
|
481
|
|
2
|
ESPN
|
497
|
NAN
*
|
426
|
|
3
|
USA
|
472
|
ESPN
|
361
|
|
4
|
TBSC
|
468
|
NICK
|
332
|
|
5
|
CMDY
|
421
|
MTV
|
313
|
|
6
|
NAN
|
331
|
TBSC
|
252
|
|
7
|
BRAV
|
317
|
CMDY
|
244
|
|
8
|
FX
|
307
|
USA
|
233
|
|
9
|
FAM
|
301
|
TOON
|
203
|
|
10
|
TRU
|
287
|
TNT
|
185
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-34
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Jersey
Shore
2
|
MTV
|
3484
|
|
2
|
Jersey
Shore
After Hours
|
MTV
|
2320
|
|
3
|
Teen Mom 2
|
MTV
|
1859
|
|
4
|
Real Housewives Of
New Jersey
|
BRAV
|
1510
|
|
5
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1269
|
|
6
|
Real World XXIV
|
MTV
|
1269
|
|
7
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1262
|
|
8
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1248
|
|
9
|
Keeping Up With the Kardashians
|
EN
|
1133
|
|
10
|
Family Guy
|
ADSM
|
1129
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
Rank |
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
1091
|
NAN
*
|
698
|
|
2
|
USA
|
1016
|
ESPN
|
670
|
|
3
|
MTV
|
905
|
ADSM*
|
645
|
|
4
|
TBSC
|
857
|
NICK
|
517
|
|
5
|
TNT
|
754
|
TNT
|
498
|
|
6
|
CMDY
|
640
|
TBSC
|
486
|
|
7
|
AEN
|
630
|
USA
|
484
|
|
8
|
HIST
|
623
|
MTV
|
400
|
|
9
|
FX
|
610
|
CMDY
|
360
|
|
10
|
TRU
|
593
|
AEN
|
348
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 18-49
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
Jersey
Shore
2
|
MTV
|
4379
|
|
2
|
Jersey
Shore
After Hours
|
MTV
|
2912
|
|
3
|
Real Housewives Of
New Jersey
|
BRAV
|
2676
|
|
4
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2512
|
|
5
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup
|
ESPN
|
2393
|
|
6
|
Teen Mom 2
|
MTV
|
2382
|
|
7
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2273
|
|
8
|
Project Runway
|
LIF
|
2200
|
|
9
|
Covert Affairs
|
USA
|
2006
|
|
10
|
The Closer
|
TNT
|
1897
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE NETWORKS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
|
PRIME TIME |
TOTAL DAY |
|
Rank
|
Net |
(000) |
Net |
(000) |
|
1
|
ESPN
|
1182
|
ESPN
|
628
|
|
2
|
USA
|
1110
|
TNT
|
563
|
|
3
|
TNT
|
907
|
NAN
*
|
546
|
|
4
|
TBSC
|
769
|
USA
|
512
|
|
5
|
HIST
|
700
|
TBSC
|
443
|
|
6
|
AEN
|
655
|
NICK
|
396
|
|
7
|
TRU
|
602
|
ADSM*
|
395
|
|
8
|
BRAV
|
596
|
HIST
|
375
|
|
9
|
FX
|
589
|
TRU
|
366
|
|
10
|
FOOD
|
579
|
AEN
|
357
|
|
* Network broadcasts less than 51% of minutes in a 24-hour day.
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
TOP 10 AD-SUPPORTED CABLE SHOWS
Adults 25-54
Week Ending Sept. 5 |
|
Rank |
PROGRAM |
NET |
(000) |
|
1
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup
|
ESPN
|
2992
|
|
2
|
Jersey
Shore
2
|
MTV
|
2719
|
|
3
|
The Closer
|
TNT
|
2566
|
|
4
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2542
|
|
5
|
Real Housewives of
New Jersey
|
BRAV
|
2470
|
|
6
|
WWE Raw
|
USA
|
2335
|
|
7
|
Rizzoli & Isles
|
TNT
|
2284
|
|
8
|
Covert Affairs
|
USA
|
2221
|
|
9
|
Project Runway
|
LIF
|
2160
|
|
10
|
White Collar
|
USA
|
1835
|
|
Source: Turner Research from Nielsen data
|
|
|
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