Tough competition: Burn Notice is among the shows that is putting pressure on the leftovers networks most frequently schedule in the summer.

There is "network television is on the decline," and then there is "networks had their worst week among viewers 18-49 that they have ever had, ever."

Last week, it was the latter.

Before you get too excited about the notion that maybe we are throwing away our televisions entirely, keep in mind that cable isn't sharing in the networks' misery. USA is humming along with Burn Notice and Royal Pains, TNT is getting good numbers for things like The Closer, and you've probably heard that HBO got its best ratings since The Sopranos when it brought back True Blood for a second season.

And of course, this week, there's been you-know-who and you-know-who plus you-know-what, but as we've discussed in the past, that tends to be a fairly transitory thing.

But for the networks, this week has to have been downright alarming.

Bad strategy and simple freedom of choice, after the jump...

 

Not necessarily every network and every show has reason to worry: take note, in light of yesterday's post about Univision: five out of the top twenty broadcast shows among the 18-49 demographic last week were episodes of the telenovela Mañana Para Siempre