Cable Nielsens

Network TV ratings keep sinking downward, while cable shows (like "Nip/Tuck") keep raising their profile, which leads to a periodic debate around the old Gazette newsroom: We run the weekly network TV ratings, should we also start running the cable Nielsens? Esoteric, maybe, but these are the issues we ponder when we're not conducting pizza taste tests.

The argument against running the cable Nielsens? The ratings themselves. Consider this week's top shows:
Sunday night NFL Football (you'll get no argument from me there), "WWE Raw" (both the 9 p.m. and the 10 p.m. shows), "Law & Order: SVU" reruns, "SpongeBob SquarePants," more "SVU," regular "Law & Order" reruns, more "SpongeBob", "Fairly Odd Parents," more "SVU," and, finally, more "SpongeBob."

That's pretty much a typical week, although once the NFL wraps up, SpongeBob will kick up a few more slots.
Sooooo, until "The Shield," "Nip/Tuck," or "The Sopranos" crack the list, it looks like we'll continue to ignore the cable Nielsens in Ye Olde Newspaper.