• by Wayne Friedman , August 17, 2010

TNT continues its winning streak with its new rookie drama "Rizzoli & Isles" dominating all cable shows in terms of overall viewers. For the week ending August 16, the show grabbed 7.4 million viewers, just a bit better than longtime TNT rating's champ "The Closer," which had 7.2 million viewers. That said, those shows are down a bit versus their season-to-date averages.

USA Network's network big three -- "Burn Notice," "Royal Pains" and newcomer "Covert Affairs" -- are in third, fifth and sixth positions when it comes to overall viewers. Those shows' numbers are generally higher than their respective season-to-date averages.

MTV's "Jersey Shore" continues to deliver big summertime ratings -- at 5.5 million overall viewers, good for 4th place overall for the week.

Not to be outdone, HBO's "True Blood" delivered 5.0 million viewers for the week, coming in seventh place. ESPN "Nascar Sprint Cup" race took in 4.9 million viewers. USA's 10 p.m. running of WWE Entertainment's "Raw" was next at 4.8 million. Rounding out the top 10 was History's "American Pickers" at 4.7 million viewers.

USA's shows continue to draw younger viewers, the key 18-49 demographics that most national advertisers favor. "Royal Pains" (2.896 million 18-49 viewers), "Burn Notice" (2.893 million 18-49 viewers) and "Covert Affairs" (2.552 million 18-49 viewers) have been the top three cable shows among 18-49 viewers so far this summer season.

USA is also tops with these shows among younger 18-34 viewers, at well.