Nielsen's Top 10 TV Shows of 2009

Here's Nielsen's list of Top 10 TV shows, Top 10 single telecasts and Top 10 time-shifted programs for 2009. Note the measurement company is using household ratings here, a lesser-used measurement for primetime programing that suggests the overall percentage of households that tuned into the show (as opposed to the number of viewers or number of adults 18-49).

The DVR list is probably the most interesting, it's a total geek-fest. We don't often see such lists that include cable programs, and this puts "Battlestar Galactica" and other Syfy shows into the top 10 when using a percentage-gain basis.

Top 10 TV Programs - Regularly Scheduled Programs Network % of Homes in U.S. (Rating)

1 American Idol-Wednesday FOX 14.4
2 American Idol-Tuesday FOX 13.8
3 Dancing with the Stars ABC 12.0
4 NBC Sunday Night Football NBC 11.7
5 Dancing with the Stars - Results Show ABC 9.9
6 NCIS: Los Angeles CBS 9.8
7 NCIS CBS 9.4
8 NFL Regular Season  L ESPN 8.8
8 Sunday Night NFL Pre-kick NBC 8.8
10 The Good Wife CBS 8.5 (I'm was surprised by this one, asked Nielsen to double-check and they assure that, yup, "Good Wife," not, say, "Criminal Minds" or "Survivor" or other highly viewed shows, ranks in the Top 10 among households ... as pointed out below, repeats are factored in, which gives programs with few repeats an advantage.)

Top 10 TV Programs - Single Telecast

1 Super Bowl XLIII NBC 02/01/2009 42.0
2 Super Bowl Pre-Kick NBC 02/01/2009 35.2
3 Super Bowl Kick-Off NBC 02/01/2009 29.6
4 Super Bowl Post NBC 02/01/2009 25.7
5 AFC Championship On CBS CBS 01/18/2009 22.0
6 Fox NFC Championship FOX 01/18/2009 21.9
7 Academy Awards ABC 02/22/2009 20.6
8 AFC Divisional Playoff CBS 01/11/2009 19.6
9 Fox NFC Playoff FOX 01/11/2009 18.7
10 Fox NFC Wildcard Game FOX 01/04/2009 17.6

Top 10 "Timeshifted" Primetime TV Programs Rank Programs -- Network % Increase of  Timeshifted Viewing

1 Battlestar Galactica  SYFY 59.4
2 Mad Men AMC 57.7
3 Damages FX 56.3
4 Rescue Me FX 53.2
5 True Blood HBO 46.9
5 Stargate Universe SYFY 46.9
7 Sanctuary SYFY 45.9
7 Heroes NBC 45.9
9 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles FOX 45.5
10 10 Things I Hate About You ABC Family 44.9
10 Dollhouse FOX 44.9
10 Melrose Place CW 44.9