CABLE CHANNELS TOUT RECORD RATINGS

While broadcast television in general was recording some of its lowest ratings of the year, cable TV networks were trumpeting some of their highest. “Discovery Channel experienced its best August ever,” the channel that averaged 3.3 million viewers for its annual “Shark Week” bragged in a news release. Likewise Oxygen channel boasted that it “earned its best August viewership ever in the network’s history, with increases among all key demos.” History Channel crowed that it “secured its best August ever, topping off its most successful summer on record.” And Bravo proclaimed that its The Real Housewives of New Jersey pulled in “record-breaking numbers.”