In its new 9 p.m. slot, "Burn Notice" logged its best season premiere numbers with the third-season opener drawing 6 million viewers, 2.5 million of them in the 18-49 demographic. That is up 11% in total viewers and up 7% in adults 18-49 from the show's second season debut and only a fraction lower than the series high of 6.1 million (2.7 million in 18-49) netted by the second-season finale in March.

In adults 18-49, "Burn Notice" outperformed two of its broadcast competitors, the repeat of "CSI" on CBS and the premiere of "The Listener" on NBC.

Following at 10 p.m., "Royal Pains," held to the bulk of its lead-in to end up with 5.6 million viewers, 2.3 million in adults 18-49.

"Royal Pains," which stars Mark Feuerstein as a doctor to the rich, was USA's most-watched series debut since "Psych" set a record in July 2006 with 6.1 million viewers, airing behind another network hit, "Monk."

Conan Watch: The Tonight Show wins Conan's first week, but unsurprisingly ratings dropped every night

O’Brien’s “Tonight” premiere garnered a massive 7.1 overnight metered-market household rating, then dropped 30% on Tuesday (5.0), slipped 14% on Wednesday (4.3), went down 12% on Thursday (3.8) and fell 8% on Friday (3.5).

While Conan’s debut was the highest-rated Monday episode of the veteran franchise in four years, last night was the lowest-rated Friday episode of “Tonight” in six months.

Yet the latest rating could also be a sign the O’Brien’s out-of-the-gate decline is slowing and competitors were likewise down by a similar percentage when comparing Thursday to Friday.

Also, the first week of O’Brien’s “Tonight” has averaged a 4.7 rating in the summer — 21% higher than Jay Leno’s second quarter average with the show. Several clips from “Tonight” have also received heavy online viral play, including one with Barack Obama endorsing the host that received considerable coverage.

“Tonight” likewise beat CBS’ “Late Show,” by a 62% margin this week. The gap between O’Brien and Letterman narrowed nearly each night, however, with the CBS program pulling a 2.7 on Friday.

List of top 15 cable shows in Nielsen ratings
By The Associated Press The Associated Press

1 hr 16 mins ago

Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of June 1-7. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:

1. "Jon & Kate Plus 8" (Monday, 9:30 p.m.), TLC, 4.24 million homes, 5.94 million viewers.

2. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 4.17 million homes, 5.99 million viewers.

3. "Royal Pains" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 4.11 million homes, 5.56 million viewers.

4. "Jon & Kate Plus 8" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TLC, 3.92 million homes, 5.46 million viewers.

5. Auto Racing: NASCAR-Poconos (Sunday, 1:59 p.m.), TNT, 3.89 million homes, 5.48 million viewers.

6. "NASCAR Post Race Show" (Sunday, 6:02 p.m.), TNT, 3.71 million homes, 5.34 million viewers.

7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.56 million homes, 5.05 million viewers.

8. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.17 million homes, 4.53 million viewers.

9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Monday, 5 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.15 million homes, 3.96 million viewers.

10. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.11 million homes, 3.92 million viewers.

11. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.1 million homes, 4.04 million viewers.

12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Tuesday, 5 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.06 million homes, 4.06 million viewers.

13. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.036 million homes, 4.01 million viewers.

14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.035 million homes, 3.74 million viewers.

15. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.033 million homes, 3.89 million viewers.

___

TLC is owned by Discovery Communications Inc. Nickelodeon is owned by Viacom Inc. USA is owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. TNT is owned by Time Warner Inc.