The top cable programs of the week that competed against the early nights of the London Summer Olympics (True Blood on HBO Sunday, Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E! Sunday, VH1’s Love and Hip Hop Atlanta on Monday) were close to their normal levels, with the Kardashians slightly above normal. Even with a 10 or 11 rating on a broadcast network, there are still rating points to be had with hit series. Also, it is important to note that big event television (Olympics, Super Bowl, Academy Awards) are so highly rated because they attract people who do not normally watch much television — therefore many of the viewers of big sports and entertainment events do not necessarily come at the expense of series on other networks. Also, keep in mind the big events are very attractive to advertisers because their commercials will be seen by consumers who are otherwise very difficult to reach through advertising.
Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 is back to its normal level, with the network back on DirecTV (along with the other Viacom channels) and no apparent backlash to his “rape is hilarious” controversy.
FX’s Anger Management seems to be settling into a 1.0 rating or so, probably slightly below what FX wanted it to be but not a failure. AMC’s Breaking Bad (incredibly well acted and well written, but supremely narrow) is still dropping, down to a 1.1 in its most recent episode Sunday — it most likely will settle in around a 1.0 rating.
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