World Cup Takes Center Stage

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Jun 28, 2002

Soccer fans may be in the minority in the United States, but their numbers are certainly growing. The recent World Cup games, particularly those featuring the team from the United States, are garnering much higher ratings than expected.

The game between Germany and the United States was the most watched program on cable last week. This is very impressive when you consider that the game did not begin until 4:30 a.m. on the west coast. Soccer fans were a bit bleary-eyed at work last week, but they also proved that they are very loyal.

The World Cup tournament comes to an end on Sunday when Brazil plays Germany for the championship. Life will come to a standstill in both of those countries, as it will in most of the rest of the world.

Here are the ratings for the top ten cable programs for the week ending June 23. The ratings were complied by AC Nielsen Media Research.

1. "World Cup Soccer" - U.S. vs. Germany, ESPN

2. "WWE Raw Zone," TNN

3. Movie: "U.S. Marshalls," TBS

4. "WWE RAW," TNN

5. "SpongeBob, SquarePants," Nickeloden, Sun, 10:30

6. "The Dead Zone," USA Network

7. "SpongeBob, SquarePants," Nickeloden, Sun, 10:00

8. "SpongeBob, SquarePants," Nickeloden, Sat, 10:30

9. "SpongeBob, SquarePants," Nickeloden, Sun, 10:00

10. "Real World XI," MTV

Other news and notes from the world of television:

Web site of the week: In honor of the World Cup, our web site of the week spotlights the coverage offered by ESPN. Even the most causual of soccer fans can find something of interest at http://worldcup.espnsoccernet.com.

Though viewers continue to defect from the major broadcast networks to cable, the network shows are still more popular in terms of the actual number of viewers.

The most popular show on cable last week, the World Cup game between the U.S. and Germany, had 3.77 million homes watching. The most popular show on the broadcast networks last week, "CSI," had 10,370,000 million homes watching.

Here are the top ten rated programs on broadcast television for the week ending June 23. These were also compiled by AC Nielsen Media Research.

1. "CSI," CBS

2. "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS

3. "48 Hours," CBS

4. "Becker," CBS

5. "Law and Order," NBC

6. "60 Minutes," CBS

7. "Law and Order: SVU," NBC

8. "Dateline Tuesday, "NBC

9. "Price is Right," CBS

10. "King of Queens, "CBS

Former "NYPD Blue" stars move to Miami: Two former stars of "NYPD Blue" are teaming up on "CSI: Miami." Kim Delaney has signed on to join David Caruso in the spinoff from the popular CBS series.

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The copyright of the article World Cup Takes Center Stage in American Television is owned by F. Colin Kingston. Permission to republish World Cup Takes Center Stage in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.