• by Paul Gough , August 6, 2003

A kind of frontier CSI starring Tom Berenger fought its way to the top of the week's primetime cable ratings, scoring big and adding to a good showing by USA Network for the week ended Sunday.

The debut of USA's hour-long drama series Peacemakers delivered a 3.2 household rating with an average 5.19 million viewers tuning in at 9 p.m. Wednesday, making it second only to TNN's WWE Raw Zone in the Nielsen ratings. WWE Raw Zone delivered a 3.4 household rating and an average 5.79 million viewers in its 10 p.m. Monday timeslot.

The network said it was one of the strongest openings for an original series in basic cable, second to another USA Network show, The Dead Zone. When The Dead Zone premiered last year it had 6.4 million viewers. But the good news for USA Network didn't stop there. Two other USA Network dramas (Monk and The Dead Zone) and a USA movie reached the top 15.

It was also a strong week for Lifetime, which saw the debut of two series on its new Saturday night drama block. One series, 1-800 MISSING had the most-watched premiere in the network's history, with a 3.1 household rating and an average 3.3 million viewers. That placed it ninth in total household audience. The other new series, Wild Card, delivered a 2.7 household rating and 2.8 million viewers.

TNT had three of the top 15 programs, including a Tuesday night episode of Law & Order and back-to-back showings of Men in Black at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. TNN, soon to become Spike TV, had its requisite two appearances with wrestling and Nick had only one entry in the top 15, a Monday afternoon episode of Spongebob.

The top pay cable program was Sunday night's episode of Sex and the City, with delivered a 4.1 household rating and an average of 5.77 million viewers. The next nearest pay cable program, a rerun of The Sopranos, delivered a 2.4 rating and an average of 3.29 million viewers.