Three Comedies Score Biggest Weeks Ever

NEW YORK (AP) — It was a big week — the biggest, in fact — for three disparate TV comedies last week.

BET’s revived “The Game,” Comedy Central’s “Tosh.0” and ABC’s “The Middle” each had their largest audiences ever for episodes that aired last week, the Nielsen Co. said.

Meanwhile, it was another dominant week for pro football. The post-game show for the New York Jets-New England Patriots game was the most-watched primetime show last week, Nielsen said. The game itself, most of which was not in primetime, averaged 43.5 million viewers.

“The Game” was an extraordinary story for BET. The network last Tuesday aired the first episode of a new fourth season of the sitcom about professional athletes and their relationships, and it was seen by about 7.7 million viewers, Nielsen said.

That was a big leap for the series, which never reached more than 1.9 million viewers for an episode during its three years on broadcast television. “The Game” had been shut down by the CW network in 2009.

BET picked up reruns of the series and aggressively marketed the new fourth season as it continued to build an online fan base. “The Game” has a primarily black cast, and with BET it’s with a network that appeals mostly to black viewers.

A sitcom that was barely noticed by the general public when it was first on the air now claims the biggest audience ever for an original situation comedy episode on ad-supported cable. The second episode, aired this Tuesday, had 5.9 million viewers, Nielsen said.

“The Middle,” starring Neil Flynn and Patricia Heaton as the Hecks of Orson, Ind., was seen by more than 10 million people last week. It has been steadily growing in popularity during its sophomore season, with its audience up 28 percent over last year. “The Middle” was moved to 8 p.m. ET from 8:30 p.m. last year, and the early hour is considered even tougher for many shows to reach an audience.

Last week, “The Middle” may have been helped by rivals showing reruns, since the episode was aired in the East slightly before President Barack Obama spoke at a memorial service for shooting victims in Tucson, Ariz.

“Tosh.0” was seen by 3.6 million viewers for the premiere of its third season on Comedy Central last week, even though the series was moved from Wednesday to Tuesday night. The previous series high happened last July.

CBS won the week — the last before the return of “American Idol” changes the landscape of prime-time TV — by averaging 11.9 million viewers (7.2 rating, 12 share). Fox was second with a 10.3 million average (5.9, 9), taking advantage of last Saturday’s Green Bay Packers- Atlanta Falcons playoff game in primetime, which was seen by 30.8 million viewers.

ABC averaged 7.3 million viewers (4.5, 7), NBC had 6.4 million (3.9, 6), Ion Television had 1.33 million (0.9, 1) and the CW had 1.32 million (0.8, 1).

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with an average of 3.3 million viewers (1.7, 3), Telemundo had 960,000 and TeleFutura 950,000 (both 0.5, 1), Estrella had 240,000 and Azteca 230,000 (both 0.1, 0).

NBC’s “Nightly News” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 10.5 million viewers (6.7, 12). ABC’s “World News” was second with 9.1 million (6.0, 11) and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.1 million viewers (4.7, 8).

A ratings point represents 1,159,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 115.9 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

The Top 20

Primetime viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Jan. 10-16. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. “AFC Divisional Playoff Post-Game Show” (Sunday), CBS, 31.24 million.

2. NFL Playoff: Green Bay vs. Atlanta, Fox, 30.82 million.

3. “NCIS,” CBS, 21.93 million.

4. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 18.13 million.

5. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 17.4 million.

6. “Golden Globe Awards,” NBC, 17 million.

7. “AFC Divisional Playoff Post-Game” (Saturday), CBS, 14.59 million.

8. “Undercover Boss,” CBS, 13.79 million.

9. “The Good Wife,” CBS, 12.29 million.

10. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 12.15 million.

11. “Modern Family,” ABC, 11.12 million.

12. “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 10.91 million.

13. “Wipeout” (Thursday), ABC, 10.64 million.

14. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 10.42 million.

15. “The Mentalist,” CBS, 10.32 million.

16. “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 10.27 million.

17. “Desperate Housewives,” ABC, 10.25 million.

18. “(Bleep) My Dad Says,” CBS, 10.14 million.

19. “The Middle,” ABC, 10.1 million.

20. “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 9.71 million.