USA Network continues to get strong results from a variety of original programs, including the abduction drama "The 4400," slipping by TNT for the cable ratings crown for the week ending Sunday, July 25, 2004.

Overall, USA averaged 2.74 million viewers per night in primetime, better than the 2.52 million for TNT. The Disney Channel was in third with 2.04 million viewers. ESPN grabbed fourth with 1.76 million, nipping the 1.75 million for the Cartoon Network.

TNT still dominated the basic cable Top 15 for the week, landing six shows on the list led by the NASCAR race from Loudon, NH, which buckled in 6.77 million viewers (while the pre-race was No. 13 with 4.05 million). Nearly 4.52 million viewers became enmeshed in the first episode of "The Grid," at No. 7, while the second episode still snared 4.13 million for No. 10. One of several screenings of "Ocean's Eleven" was No. 8 with 4.34 million viewers and an episode of "Law & Order" was No. 11 with 4.12 million.

USA got a No. 2 performance out of the latest episode of "The 4400," which whisked away 5.49 million viewers. The original movie "Belly of the Beast" digested 4.73 million for No. 5. There were 4.73 million obsessive fans for "Monk" at No. 5, while 4.67 million viewers were sucked into "The Dead Zone" at No. 6.

A quartet of networks only had single listworthy entries, led by ESPN, which placed the Sunday night baseball game between the Red Sox and Yankees at No. 3 with 5.26 million viewers. The WWE Entertainment double bill on Spike TV averaged 4.18 million viewers for No. 9, while premiere of "Rescue Me" set fire to 4.07 million viewers for FX. Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants" expanded at No. 14 with 3.54 million viewers.

Over on the premium cable side, "Six Feet Under" was tops with 3.8 million viewers. Two segments of HBO's Saturday boxing were No. 2 (2.39 million) and No. 3 (2.18 million) with a screening of "S.W.A.T." at No. 4 with 2.13 million viewers. Another boxing segment was fifth with 1.99 million viewers.