CBS Swarms Weekly Competition
(Tuesday, April 26 10:41 AM)
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Surprisingly strong ratings from the cheese-tastic movie "Locusts!," along with typically solid performances from
its usual ratings winners, propelled CBS to another win in the weekly Nielsen rankings.
The Eye network averaged an 8.1 rating/13 share and 12.5 million viewers per night for the week ending Sunday, April 24, cruising to a first-place finish. The rest of the Big Four were tightly bunched. NBC and FOX tied for
second in households at 5.7/10, with ABC close behind at 5.6/9. FOX was alone in second among total viewers, drawing 9.17 million per night, while ABC's 8.68 million topped NBC's 8.4 million. The WB (2.2/4, 3.34 million viewers)
beat UPN (2.1/3, 3.16 million) for fifth.
There were more ties in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, with CBS and FOX sharing the No. 1 spot with identical 3.7 ratings. ABC and NBC tied for third at 3.2. The WB's 1.4 for the week narrowly beat UPN's 1.3.
"CSI," 16.9/26, wrested the No. 1 overall ranking in both households and viewers (27 million) from "American Idol" and led the way for CBS. "CSI: Miami," 13.0/21, and "Survivor: Palau," 11.7/20, finished fifth and sixth.
"Everybody Loves Raymond," 10.9/16, and "Two and a Half Men," 10.8/16, also made the top 10.
CBS had five more shows in the second 10, led by "Cold Case" (10.6/17) and "Without a Trace" (10.6/18), which tied for 12th. Sunday's "60 Minutes" averaged 8.3/15 to finish 17th, one spot ahead of "Locusts!," 8.1/13. "Judging
Amy" tied for 19th overall.
The Tuesday edition of "American Idol" led the way for FOX, finishing third in households (14.3/23) and second in total viewers (24.1 million). The Wednesday results show was fourth overall at 13.8/21. "House" also cracked the
top 10, finishing eighth with an 11.0/17.
ABC was once again paced by its Sunday lineup. A "Desperate Housewives" clip show did almost as well as recent original episodes, placing second in households (14.6/22) and third in viewers (23.85 million). "Grey's Anatomy"
posted an 11.3/18 to finish seventh, and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was 15th at 9.6/15.
The first original episode of "ER" in several weeks topped the list for NBC, tying for 10th overall with a 10.8/18. "Law & Order," 10.1/17, finished 14th, and "The Apprentice" was two spots behind it at 8.9/14. "Revelations,"
7.8/12, hung on to a spot in the top 20 despite a sizable decline from its premiere the previous week.
The WB's "Gilmore Girls" and UPN's "WWE Smackdown!" led their respective networks and tied for 79th overall at 3.3/5. "Smackdown!" had the edge in total viewers, drawing 5.33 million people to 4.81 million for "Gilmore Girls."