TVSquad

We're talking ratings here, not quality of the shows. Nielsen has the top ten rated shows for 2009 and also has a couple of other categories, including the top ten single telecasts and the top ten time-shifted shows of the year (you might not guess that).

Speaking of not guessing what something is, you're never going to believe what the number ten show is on the top ten rated shows of the year list. The Live Feed was surprised and I'm not sure I'm convinced either. The full list of the ten highest-rated shows is after the jump.

About 18 million or so folks tuned in to NBC's Sunday Night Football Game last night, the Minnesota Vikings versus the Arizona Cardinals. That's a really good number, but it wasn't the boffo bonanza NBC had in mind when they used the NFL flex schedule option to choose Bret Favre over Tom Brady.

When I wrote about the flex schedule last week, a lot of reader comments said that NBC decision made perfect sense because the Vikings-Card game would be a bigger draw than the Patriots-Dolphins.

Well, guess what happened? The Favre game turned out to be a bust. The Cardinals, led by Kurt Warner, shredded the Vikings and won handily 30-17. It wasn't close and the ratings diminished from the second half on.

If you're like me, when you hear the name Martha Stewart you think of football. Now those two things are coming together in a new contest.

Martha and NBC have teamed up for Martha's Sunday Night Football Sweepstakes, a contest where, if you win the grand prize, you get a trip to New York City, a stay in a hotel, $100 in spending money, and you get to attend a live taping of Martha Stewart or Football Night in America. Runner up prizes include Martha's new book Dinner at Home and autographed footballs.

If there's one night of television that NBC has a handle on, it's Sunday. At least during football season. Football Night In America works, and you know the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." That said, NBC has renewed its NFL deal for two more years. The new deal – the extension – secures that NBC will be broadcasting NFL games through 2013, so there will be plenty of games for all those analysts to yap about.

NBC has nearly enough guys to field a team on the pre-game show: Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Keith Olbermann, Tony Dungy, Tiki Barber, Rodney Harrison ... with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth calling the games. Will we notice that John Madden is gone? Probably not, especially if the games are good.

It's always great to hear the fall premiere dates for shows. It reminds you that, yes, eventually the summer is going to end and the fall will be here. Here are the dates when the new seasons of your favorite old NBC shows (and new ones) will launch (more dates to come).

Sunday, September 13: Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football
Monday, September 14: The Jay Leno Show
Tuesday, September 15: The Biggest Loser
Thursday, September 17: SNL Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Community
Monday, September 21: Heroes
Wednesday, September 23: Parenthood and Law and Order: SVU
Friday, September 25: Law and Order and Southland
Saturday, September 26: Saturday Night Live
Monday, September 28: Trauma
Thursday, October 15: 30 Rock

John Madden is done. NBC announced today that Madden, perhaps the most famous broadcaster in football history apart from Howard Cosell, is retiring from the booth after covering the NFL for 30 years, winning 16 Emmys and the admiration of football friends everywhere.

Madden addressed listeners this morning on KCBS in San Francisco about the decision, which was obviously not easy for him. "I decided to retire," he said. "Heck I can't even say it. It's tough, not because I'm not sure it's the right time. I really feel strongly this is the right time. I'm just going to miss everything about it because I enjoyed it so much."

Football is in Madden's blood. He's a Hall of Fame coach, winning the Super Bowl with the Raiders in 1977, a college stand-out offensive tackle from California Polytechnic State University, and his Madden NFL is a perennial best-selling video game on multiple platforms. He joined ABC's Monday Night Football crew in 2002, and spent the past three years on NBC's Sunday Night Football.

When NBC announced that Jay Leno would take over the 10pm slot every weekday night, a lot of people worried that not only would this mean that some of their favorite 10pm shows would either be canceled or moved to another time slot, they also worried that NBC was signaling that they were giving up on scripted shows. NBC sent out a memo saying "this does not reduce NBC's commitment to scripted programs" and that it "enables us to focus on scripted development for 8-10pm." But it seems like they'll have no room for any more scripted shows.

I hope I'm wrong about this but just looking at what NBC has on their schedule it makes me wonder.

Here's a list of the reality and/or games shows that NBC has or will have on the schedule:

Two-and-a-half years ago, I asked the (admittedly) dumb question, "Could Frank Caliendo take John Madden's place?" At the time, my contention was that Caliendo's loopy Madden impression was no longer that far off reality, and that Madden had become such a caricature of himself that Frank could have stepped in and no one would have known the difference.

If NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol had a sense of daring, he could have tried that experiment this Sunday night, as Madden is going to sit out NBC's broadcast of the Buccaneers-Seahawks game in Tampa. The week off was Ebersol's idea; last night's game was in San Diego, making a cross-country trek for Madden and his famous Cruiser (he doesn't fly) right before a week off, as NBC defers to the World Series.

We continue with our roundup of the season-ending ratings (here is the season winner and the May sweeps winner) with a list of the top 20 shows for the season. The first two shows aren't going to be a surprise to anyone (though the number of times one show shows up on the list might be surprising to some). How many shows on this list do you watch? I watch one show all the time and I watch another show a little bit. The other 18 1/2 shows I don't watch at all, which is odd because I watch a ton of television every week.

Only one sitcom made the top 20, and there was only one show from NBC. Do you know what those two shows are? Answer after the jump.

(Oh, I know The CW logo is in the pic above, but you won't find any of their shows on the list.)

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

NBC hits #1! OK, it's football and it's probably a temporary thing (plus it's the holidays), but they did it, and NBC even got a few more shows into the top 20 (even if they were temporary reality shows). I'm getting a little sick of typing the letters "CBS" each and every week though, at least when they're attached to shows like CSI. Interesting that 60 Minutes hit #3, considering it was a repeat.

1. Sunday Night Football (NBC)

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

Well, with eight shows of the top 10 (and 11 out of the top 20), I would say that CBS is really happy with the ratings this week. NBC makes an appearance, but it's all Deal or No Deal (except for football, which will be over in a few weeks or so). Good to see The Simpsons jump in there, with their new episode last week.

1. CSI (CBS)
2. Without A Trace (CBS)
3. Survivor - Finale (CBS)

Here are the weekly ratings, by number of viewers.

Funny how the ratings race becomes a little bit more interesting when Dancing with the Stars vanishes from the schedule. Though I guess it's always possible that ABC will give Marie Osmond her own weekly variety show again, and she can dance and sing and faint and cry and sell her dolls and find her way back into the top 10 again. NBC makes a strong showing, with five shows in the top 20 (though I guess two of them are really one show, Sunday Night Football and the Pre-Kick). Also good to see Rudolph at #4. They must think he's cuuuuuuuuuute.

1. CSI (CBS)

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

It will be interesting to see what this Top 20 looks like next week, as Dancing with the Stars ended its season last night. Will Sunday Night Football go to the top spot, or is this a chance for CSI: Miami to get back up there? That Bachelor episode was also a season finale, so that opens up another spot. It's interesting that NBC has two shows on the list, but they're both connected to Sunday Night Football.

1. Dancing with the Stars - Mon (ABC)

Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.

Wait a second...is that actually an NBC non-game show in the Nielsen top 20? That must be a typo, let me check...

Nope, it's true! That's a rare sighting, like the Aurora Borealis or a picture of Rosie O'Donnell where she isn't doing that "lip pucker" thing to make her face look thinner. It's so rare I just have to put a pic of Law and Order: SVU to the right. But the ratings were still dominated by Dancing with the Stars and CBS shows.

1. Dancing with the Stars - Mon (ABC)

How much would you spend for a 30 second commercial on Grey's Anatomy? It's the most expensive TV show to advertise on, according to Ad Age magazine. It costs $419,000 for a half minute.

In second place is Sunday Night Football, which costs $358,000, and then The Simpsons, which is a cool $315,000. Rounding out the top 10 are Heroes ($296,000), Desperate Housewives ($270,000), CSI ($248,000), Two and a Half Men ($231,000), Survivor and Private Practice (tied at $208,000 each), and then Prison Break ($200,000).