Movie Box Review

AMC's Walking Dead remains the top-rated cable program with Adults 18-49 this past week, settling down from its lofty season premiere rating the week before.  Jersey Shore on MTV also drifted down (losing a tenth of a rating point to a 2.9), and Teen Mom 2 (also on MTV) tumbled half a rating point to a 2.0.  Still good numbers, but like the broadcast competition, even top shows are eroding this mid-season at an alarming rate, well before the more expected swoon when the weather warms up and Daylight Saving Time hits. 

Click "read more" to see the updated weekly cable chart.

AMC's Walking Dead is the new king of the weekly cable ratings chart, with a terrific 4.2 Adult 18-49 rating for Sunday's season premiere.  Read more on the Walking Dead premiere here.  The rest of the top-rated cable programs are pretty much unchanged.  While Jersey Shore continues its downward trend, the other MTV hit, Teen Mom 2, ticked up nicely.  Pawn Stars (History) and Gold Rush (Discovery) continue to deliver their reliably solid audience levels.

Also, new to the chart is History's Swamp People.  While a 1.9 rating is very solid for a cable show, I'm not sure it justifies advertisement in the Super Bowl.  Click "read more" for the complete chart.

Not much change at the top of the weekly cable ratings chart, with Jersey Shore, Pawn Stars and Teen Mom 2 leading the pack.  However, all three shows were down from recent highs as we enter the February sweep and these shows face nothing but original episodes on the broadcast networks. 

Tosh.0 returned to Comedy Central for another burst of original episodes and score a very good 1.9 rating with young adults.  As it hits all-time series highs on CBS Thursd, Big Bang Theory is also performing extremely well for TBS in the 10 pm hour weeknights. 

The lack of schedule flexibility (as NBC has with its late season Sunday Night Football games) has hurt the Monday and Thursday night football franchises recently.  When match-ups feature teams with little to no playoff chances, ratings drift downward (although Monday and Thursday Night Football still sit atop the weekly cable ratings chart). 

Discovery's American Chopper and MTV's Teen Mom share the honor of being the top unscripted entertainment program on cable this week, with History's Pawn Stars and A&E's Storage Wars not far behind.

FX's Sons of Anarchy remains the top scripted program on cable.  HBO's Boardwalk Empire concluded a terrific season with a 1.3 rating (matching last week's season high).  While not True Blood or Sopranos numbers, the series features writing and acting that matches HBO's best dramas.  As Mitch Salem pointed out, the preview of Luck immediately following Boardwalk crashed to a 0.4 rating (below the threshold for the weekly chart).  Next week, Showtime's Dexter concludes its creaky season (mercifully) and should be able to crack a 1 rating with any luck.