• by Paul Gough , June 26, 2003

The second season of USA's broadcast and cable hit Monk debuted to great ratings, according to Nielsen Media Research's latest survey of the top cable TV programs.

Monk's season premiere, which featured Tony Shalhoub and guest stars Andrew McCarthy and David Rasche, was the week's second highest-rated program on basic cable. The 10 p.m. Friday premiere delivered a 3.3 rating and 5.4 million people, making it the highest-rated regular program and second only to TNN's WWE Raw Zone in the weekly ratings.

Nickelodeon had six shows in the top 15, the highest of any network. TNT followed with four top-15 shows, followed by TNN (2) and one each for USA, MTV and Disney. In pay cable, the top program was Sunday night's premiere of HBO's Sex and the City, which delivered a 4.9 rating and 7.3 million viewers. Saturday night's Lewis-Klitschko heavyweight championship match delivered a 4.3 rating and 7 million viewers for HBO.

Ranked by households, the top syndicated shows were Wheel of Fortune (7.9, 8.4 million viewers); Jeopardy (6.5, 6.9 million viewers); Seinfeld (6.3, 6.7 million viewers); Friends (6, 6.3 million viewers), Everybody Loves Raymond (5.6, 6 million viewers); The Oprah Winfrey Show (5.6, 5.9 million viewers); Seinfeld Weekend (5.4, 5.7 million viewers); Entertainment Tonight (4.8, 5.1 million viewers); Judge Judy (4.7, 5 million viewers) and Buena Vista III (4.5, 4.8 million viewers).

The top 15 weekly cable programs for the week of June 16-22 were:

1. WWE Raw Zone (TNN), 3.4, 5.4 million.

2. Monk (USA), 3.3, 5.4 million.

3. WWE Raw (TNN), 3, 4.8 million.

4. TNT Original/Second Nature (TNT), 2.5, 3.5 million.

5. Real World XIII (MTV), 2.5, 3.2 million.

6. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Disney), 2.4, 4.5 million.

7. Spongebob (Nickelodeon), 2.4, 4.5 million.

8. Spongebob (Nickelodeon), 2.4, 3.3 million.

9. Spongebob (Nickelodeon), 2.3, 3.4 million.

10. Law & Order (TNT), 2.3, 3.3 million.

11. Law & Order (TNT), 2.3, 3.1 million.

12. Fairly Odd Parents (Nickelodeon), 2.3, 3.1 million.

13. Law & Order (TNT), 2.3, 3.1 million.

14. Spongebob (Nickelodeon), 2.3, 3.8 million.

15. Spongebob (Nickelodeon), 2.3, 3.7 million.