'This Week' nabs top Sunday TV spot (But 'Meet the Press' was off AGAIN)

The same secret weapon that rocketed "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" ahead on June 7 in the Sunday talk show ratings battle struck again last week, producing very similar results.

Yep, more tennis.

The ABC News show took the lead on July 5 when Stephanopoulos interviewed Vice President Joe Biden from Iraq, scoring 2.77 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That same day, CBS News' "Face the Nation" had 2.43 million and "Fox News Sunday" trailed with 1.17 million. "Meet the Press with David Gregory" took the week off for NBC's broadcast of the Wimbledon's Men's Finals.

Filling in for "Face the Nation" moderator Bob Schieffer last week was CBS News analyst John Dickerson, who interviewed Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and two senators.

We won't have the ratings for this morning's talk shows for a few days. But we can probably assume that "Meet the Press" will return to its top spot thanks to an interview with former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. On the show, McCain discussed Sarah Palin's resignation as Alaska governor.

-- Mark Milian

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Photo: Jay Tamboli via Flickr