Nielsen ratings: 'Anger Management' wins

By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY

Posted July 3, 2012

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NBC fed off the rivalry between swimmers Michael Phelps, pictured, and Ryan Lochte. The network's coverage of the U.S. Olympic trials in swimming, gymnastics and track accounted for eight of the top 20 broadcast shows. (Credit: By Mark Humphrey, AP)

Charlie Sheen scored big, and NBC scored big twice. Here's a closer look beyond the Nielsen ratings numbers:

•Cable comeback. Viewers curious about Charlie Sheen's return to series TV made FX's Anger Management the most-watched cable sitcom premiere (excluding kids programming) with 5.5 million viewers on Thursday; a second episode drew 5.7 million. Anger helped the season premieres of Wilfred (2.5 million) and Louie (1.4 million) that followed it.

•Abundance of talent. Powered by America's Got Talent and the Olympic Trials, NBC achieved a rare weekly victory in both viewers (7.2 million) and advertiser-coveted young adults (2.6 million).

•Top honors. Sunday's BET Awards ceremony was the week's most-watched cable show (7.4 million viewers), down just 4% from last year.

•Punishment and crime. ABC's Wipeout opened its summer season solidly with 6.2 million viewers Thursday. The audience was cooler to ABC's new true-crime series Final Witness (4.2 million Wednesday).

•Cable openers. VH1's Hollywood Exes, which follows a group of women who split from their superstar spouses, premiered to 2 million viewers Monday. Season premieres include MTV's Awkward Thursday (2.2 million) and Real World: St. Thomas Wednesday (1.2 million); and Showtime's Weeds (805,000) and Episodes (486,000) Sunday.