USA Network Touts "Most-Watched Summer Ever For A Cable Network"

USA Network sent the following press release out today touting their great summer ratings:

USA WINS MOST-WATCHED SUMMER EVER FOR A CABLE NETWORK

USA's Summer 2011 in Press Prime was the Most-Watched Summer ever for a Cable Network Averaging 3.7 million Total Viewers

USA owns the Three Highest Cable Summers of All Time for Total Viewers, P18-49 and P25-54 from 2009-2011

NEW YORK ? September 15, 2011 ? USA once again broke records this summer with more total viewers and households tuning in than any network on cable during any summer ever. With a record seven series on the air and launching two new series, USA delivered +3% more P25-54, +4% more P18-49, +6% P18-34, +2% more total viewers and +2% more households this year over last summer.

USA shined above every cable competitor as the only network to deliver over 1.5 million P25-54 (1.52 million, 35% over #2 TNT) and 3 million total viewers (3.67 million, 33% over #2 Disney Channel), or 2 million households (2.78 million, 41% over #2 TNT) and one of only two nets to draw over 1 million P18-49 (1.40 million, 39% over #2 History Channel) or half a million P18-34 (594,000, second only to MTV). USA was the only basic cable network to earn a household coverage rating over a 2.0 this summer, as well (2.76, +0.79 over #2 TNT).

USA was the house of hits this summer with seven original series each averaging over 2 million in P25-54, 1.5 million in P18-49, half a million in P18-34 and 5 million total viewers and 4 million households. Further, most of these titles have over 2.5 million in P25-54, 2.5 million in P18-49, 1 million in P18-34, 6 million total viewers and 4.5 million households.

USA's summer slate of hits easily outshines the mixed performances of originals on either TNT or History Channel, averaging 2.9 million in P25-54, 2.66 million in P18-49, 1.14 million in P18-34, 6.34 million total viewers and 4.75 million households.

Royal Pains and Necessary Roughness were the only original series on cable Wednesday nights this summer to deliver over 7 million total viewers (RP 7.21 million / NR 5.85 million) or 4 million households (RP 5.38 million / NR 4.45 million). No other network aired a scripted series on television Wednesdays this summer to over 2 million in P25-54 (3.30 million / 2.64 million), 2 million in P18-49 (2.99 million / 2.40 million), or 1 million in P18-34 (1.24 million / 918,000).

In the Wednesday 9pm timeslot, when the network aired Royal Pains, USA was the #1 network in all of television in P18-49, F18-49, and F25-54 delivery, coming in second only to NBC among P25-54 and to CBS for total viewers P2+ and households.

Necessary Roughness grew from its series premiere to its second week in all key demos, a rare feat for a scripted series. "When it ran Necessary Roughness Wednesdays at 10pm this summer, USA was the #1 network in all of television in P18-49, F18-49, and F25-54 delivery, coming in second only to NBC among P25-54 and to CBS for total viewers and households.

Burn Notice and Suits were the top two scripted series on television Thursdays this summer among P25-54 (BN 3.26 million / Suits 3 million), P18-49 (3.01 million / 2.87 million), P18-34 (1.33 million / 1.33 million), total viewers (7.10 million / 6.4 million), and households (5.19 million / 4.8 million). These were the #2 and #3 scripted originals on television this summer in all of television for M18-49 and M25-54.

Burn Notice was the most watched scripted original on television this summer among M18-34. The series made USA the #1 network in its Thursday 9pm timeslot for M18-49, M18-34, M25-54, and total males, placing second only to CBS in P18-49, P25-54, P18-34, total viewers, and households.

Suits made USA the #1 television network in its Thursday 10pm timeslot this summer among P25-54, M18-49, M25-54, and total males, coming in second only to MTV in P18-49 and P18-34 delivery.

COVERT AFFAIRS and WHITE COLLAR were the top two series on cable Tuesdays this summer among total viewers (CA 6.79 million / WC 5.72 million) and households (5.05 million / 4.29 million) while COVERT AFFAIRS was #1 among P25-54 (3.15 million). No other scripted series on television with new episodes Tuesdays this summer delivered over 3 million in P25-54 (3.15 million / 2.65 million), 2 million in P18-49 (2.84 million / 2.53 million), 5 million total viewers, or 4 million households.

WHITE COLLAR made USA the top network on cable in its Tuesday 9pm timeslot this summer among P25-54, P18-49, P18-34, total viewers, and households, outperforming CBS head to head in P18-49, P25-54, and P18-34 and beating FOX in total viewers. WHITE COLLAR is up double digits year to year with +10% more P25-54, +12% more P18-49, and +16% more P18-34 as well as growing +4% in total viewers P2+ and +7% in households for the show's 3rd season versus last summer's episodes.

COVERT AFFAIRS made USA second only to NBC in all of television when it ran Tuesdays at 10pm in P18-49, P25-54, total viewers P2+, and households, beating ABC and CBS in P18-34.

IN PLAIN SIGHT was the only ad-supported scripted series on television Sundays this summer to deliver over 3 million total female viewers and was second only to ABC in this demo when it aired this summer in its Sunday 10pm timeslot. IN PLAIN SIGHT outperformed CBS and NBC head to head this summer for P18-49, P25-54, P18-34, total viewers, and households. Summer to summer, IN PLAIN SIGHT grew +10% in P25-54, +12% in P18-49, +16% in P18-34, +7% in total viewers, and +10% in households.

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW made USA the #1 network in all of television in its Monday 9pm-11pm time period among M18-34, coming in behind only ABC and FOX in P18-34 .

USA was the home to cable's hottest acquired series this summer as NCIS and LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit were the only acquired series to average over 1 million P25-54 (NCIS 1.06 million / SVU 1.02 million) and 2.5 million total viewers (3.13 million / 2.56 million). LAW & ORDER: Special Victims Unit was the only acquired series to draw over 1 million in P18-49 this summer (1.04 million) and was the top acquired drama for P18-34 (487,000). NCIS was second only to SVU among the summer's acquired dramas for P18-49 (895,000) and P18-34 (328,000).