Singers, sashes and Stanley Cup are big TV ratings winners for the week

Once upon a time, when NBC did not win a week, it was big news. Now, NBC’s winning a week is the big news. Like last week.

Before that, the last time NBC had the most viewers of any TV network — back in late December — it took two NFL games to accomplish that. And one of those games was held over from the previous ratings week, airing on a Tuesday because of a snow-out the previous Sunday.

So yeah, last week was kinda like that. Only instead of two football games, NBC had “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice.”

Here’s a look at the week’s winners and losers:

Winners

“The Voice.” Since landing its “America’s Got Talent” lead-in a few weeks back, NBC’s fledgling competition series has been on a tear. Three weeks ago (when “Talent” debuted), “Voice” clocked more than 14 million viewers. Last week, “Voice” registered a still-strong 12.3 million, making it the week’s second-most popular show — and most popular among the 18-to-49-year-olds coveted by advertisers.

“America’s Got Talent.” This was the week’s most-watched program, with nearly 13 million viewers. “Talent” and “The Voice” were the only shows on all of TV — broadcast or cable — to crack double digits.

Stanley Cup Finals. NBC’s Wednesday-night broadcast of the title-clinching Game 7 of the Bruins-Canucks series was the most watched NHL telecast in 38 years; 8.54 million fans tuned in.

“ Falling Skies .” TNT, Steven Spielberg, alien invasion, Noah Wyle as history-professor-cum-action-hero: It adds up to the most-watched cable-series launch this year. On Sunday, “Falling Skies” scored an opening audience of nearly 6 million viewers — almost as many people as watched NBC’s Miss USA Pageant (7.4 million) that night!

Miss USA Pageant. Sure, it’s not attracting the double digits it did as recently as 2004, but NBC’s competition show bagged its biggest audience in five years while equaling its top ratings in six years among the 18-to-49-year-olds whom advertisers lust after. This season, the Miss USA Pageant introduced an online voting system that viewers could use for the semifinals; an interactive viewing system; Andy Cohen and Giuliana Rancic as co-hosts; and Kelly Osbourne providing “skybox color commentary” — not to mention this year’s knickers-knotting pre-taped interviews with the contestants on the official Miss USA YouTube channel.

MTV Networks Promotes Exec : TVBizwire : TVWeek - Television ...

MTV Networks has announced a key promotion in its ad sales research department, Multichannel News reported. The group upped Beth Coleman to senior VP of ad sales research.

Coleman was formerly vice president of audience research for the group.

She will be responsible for “driving the strategic direction for the ad sales research department and helping to support all Entertainment Group ad sales activities with research across a range of disciplines (including ad effectiveness, consumer insights, consumer panels and syndicated and proprietary research),” the story reports. “She oversees the entire Entertainment Group Ad Sales Research team, which includes Comedy Central, TV Land, Spike TV and CMT and their respective Web sites, as well as digital assets.”

Said Tanya Giles, executive VP of strategic insights and research: "Beth is a top-notch leader and possesses the rare ability to blend creativity, strategy and relevance in all of her research efforts. An amazing partner to our ad sales team, Beth consistently delivers unique and insightful findings that leverage the value of our audiences and brands for advertisers and clients.

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