Tnt Top-Rated Cable Network

Turner Broadcasting’s TNT was the top-rated cable network in prime time during the third quarter of the year, according to Nielsen ratings released Tuesday.

The network’s audience was up 8 percent over the same period a year ago, while USA, No. 1 this time last year but now down to No. 2, was off by 14 percent.

Of the major basic-cable networks, A&E was up 34 percent in viewers over last year, giving it the largest year-to-year audience gains. The Cartoon Network was up 29 percent, the Family Channel was up 22 percent and Discovery Channel was up 11 percent.

Meanwhile, Nickelodeon took the 24-hour crown, drawing an average 1,096,000 viewers each full day, up 10 percent over last year’s third-quarter performance. TBS was second in audience delivery overall, with 774,000 viewers, and it was No. 1 on a total-day basis with 18-to-49-year-old viewers.

Conversely, Court TV’s audience dropped 88 percent from a year ago to post the largest decline. Also, CNBC was down 26 percent, CNN was down 19 percent and ESPN was down 12 percent. Court TV’s and CNN’s fall-off is directly attributable to the fact that last year’s numbers were inflated due to their coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial.