Cable apparently doesn't believe that Sunday is a day of rest, especially during primetime. More of cable’s highly rated primetime programs fall on Sunday night than any other night of the week.
   Last week, 22 of the top 50 rated ad-supported cable programs aired during primetime. Of that 22, eight were on Sunday night. 
    The next closest nights were Monday and Wednesday, with four programs apiece, or half the number of those on Sunday.
     Among the top 10 primetime programs, Sunday’s dominance is even more apparent. The night owned six of the top 10 last week.
   Toss in HBO’s "The Sopranos," which pulled in another 8.3 million viewers this past Sunday night and was the top rated program for the week on either pay or basic cable, and Sunday night easily becomes cable’s strongest night of the week.
   Of course, this past Sunday got a boost from two high profile special events: TNT’s coverage of the "Screen Actors Guild Awards" and the Discovery Channel’s "Land of the Mammoth," the sequel to last year’s surprisingly popular "Raising the Mammoth."
   But last week’s numbers weren’t particularly unique for cable. During the month of February, Sunday night had one-third of all the top-rated primetime programs for the month. 
   If you factor out the Monday wrestling programs, Sunday night’s percentage goes to 42 percent of the month’s top-rated primetime programs.
   Since the season began in October, Sunday nights have reached an average of nearly 28 million homes, or almost two million more than cable’s average for the week, says the Cable Advertising Bureau.
   So there’s clearly more to Sunday night than special events or "The Sopranos," and last week’s top programs show how varied Sunday’s appeal is.
   In addition to "Land of the Mammoth" and the SAG Awards, which placed third and tenth in households respectively, Lifetime’s original movie "Victim of Love" was another primetime Sunday program that made the top 10 for the week.
   (Although "Victim of Love" started at 6 p.m. and ended at 8 p.m., primetime begins one hour earlier on Sunday than it does the rest of the week, and thus includes one-half of "Victim of Love.")
   Among original series on Sunday night, MTV’s "Jackass" ranked 13^th in households, while Lifetime’s "Strong Medicine" and "Any Day Now" placed 22^nd and 30^th, respectively.
   And TBS and TNT each had a Sunday night feature film make the top 50 rated programs last week: TBS’s Jackie Chan movie "Mr. Nice Guy" in 13^th place and TNT’s "As Good as it Gets" in 36^th place.
   The trend of cable viewing during Sunday primetime also extends to the demographic ratings.
   Among adults 18-49, four of the top 10 programs last week aired during primetime on Sunday. "Jackass," "Land of the Mammoth," "Mr. Nice Guy, and the SAG Awards were third, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
   Among adults 25-54, half of the top 10 programs were Sunday night programs. "Land of the Mammoth" ranked second, followed by "Mr. Nice Guy" in fourth, the SAG Awards in sixth, "Victim of Love" in seventh, and "Jackass" in ninth.