Law and Order spin-off Criminal Intent moved to cable station USA after six-years on the NBC network.  Criminal Intent faced declining ratings on the network, running against juggernaut shows like Desperate Housewives and House MD.  Of course, Law and Order episodes make most of their money in syndication so NBC decided kept the show alive.  But ratings continued to decline, so NBC decided this season to move Criminal Intent to USA, a cable station NBC owns, as a way to continue making new episodes and tons of syndication money.

Finally a network using its cable stations to their advantage.  Cable shows need less viewers to be a hit than on a broadcast station.  Criminal Intent logged 4 million viewers on USA, less than half its network audience, but can now be considered a major cable hit (and one of the highest rated cable shows).  And in addition to having a hit on their hands, Criminal Intent gives USA a high-profile show to flaunt, one that will likely attract new viewers to the station who not get to see promos for other USA shows. 

Regrettably other shows have not had the luck of rejuvenation on cable, many shows that could easily have found excellent numbers on more niche cable stations, like Firefly, Arrested Development, Wonderfalls, and Sports Night.  Maybe seeing Criminal Intent’s success on cable will inspire other networks to follow.