Weekly cable ratings: USA, USA...

By Anthony Crupi, Mediaweek

Michael Jackson was all over the dial last week, but in primetime it was business as usual as USA Network beat all comers with an average delivery of 3.2 million viewers.

Per Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings data, USA swept the three major demos in the week ending Sunday, averaging 1.45 million adults 25-54, 1.26 million viewers 18-49 and 526,000 viewers 18-34. After having sidelined its hit series "Burn Notice" and "Royal Pains" in light of the holiday weekend, USA on Thursday aired new episodes of both strips, drawing 5.73 million viewers with the 10 p.m. "Pains" and 5.51 million viewers with the lead-in.

The network also drew big numbers July 6 as its "WWE Raw" showcase drew 5.15 million viewers.

After taking the opening week of the third quarter, TNT returned to second place with 2.3 million primetime viewers and 1.07 million adults 25-54. The Turner net also landed in fourth place among adults 18-49, averaging 862,000 members of the demo. ABC Family squeaked past TNT to grab third in the demo by a margin of 3,000 viewers.

TNT's "The Closer" again was the most-watched program on ad-supported cable, averaging 6.05 million viewers in its Monday 9 p.m. slot. TNT net also got a lift from its sixth (and final) NASCAR race of the season, serving up 4.8 million viewers Saturday with its telecast of the Spring Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.