NBC and Fox battled to a demo draw during the first full week of the February sweep while ABC was very competitive thanks to thriller ratings for a Michael Jackson interview.
CBS, happy to see "Survivor" return this week, remained on top in total viewers despite its third straight fourth-place finish among adults 18-49.
According to Nielsen estimates for Feb. 3-9, NBC and Fox tied in adults 18-49 (4.9/12), with each net claiming seven of the week's top 20 programs in the key advertiser demo.
Overall, seven of the week's top 10 programs in 18-49 aired on Thursday, led by NBC's "Friends" (11.1/28) and ABC's Michael Jackson chat on a special "20/20" (11.0/25). The Jacko interview was also the week's most-watched program (27.11 million), forcing CBS drama "CSI" (25.60m) to settle for a rare second-place finish.
Fox won five nights in adults 18-49, led by "Joe Millionaire" (10.8/24) and episodes of "American Idol" on Tuesday (9.7/24) and Wednesday (9.4/23). Net also saw both "24" (6.3/15) and "Bernie Mac" (5.5/13) perform well in their return to the sked following "Idol" on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Fox, which had moved into a first-place tie for the season with NBC in adults 18-34, also dominated Saturday with a NASCAR race, but its Thursday newsmag "The Pulse" (1.5/3 in A18-49) barely had one in its second week.
For NBC, "Fear Factor" was a big contributor, winning its hour on Monday (6.3/16) while bonus episodes on Tuesday (5.0/12) and Sunday (3.5/10) also significantly improved their time periods. Net's "Kingpin" continues to win its hours in 18-49, Sunday's "Law & Order: CI" hit a new regular-slot record (4.9/11) and Tuesday comedy "A.U.S.A." received solid sampling in its bow (4.9/11).
ABC did boffo numbers for its Thursday night of Michael Jackson coverage (
Daily Variety, Feb. 10), while "The Bachelorette" (8.2/19 in adults 18-49) picked it up and dominated its Wednesday hour. On Sunday, "Alias" (4.8/10) again looked perky despite a weak lead-in, while the solid "Dragnet" dropped only modestly in its second week (4.2/10).
CBS, which ran fourth in both adults 18-49 and 25-54, should see its fortunes improve this week as "Survivor: The Amazon" bows. Net enjoyed its most-watched Monday during a February sweep in seven years, boosted by a season-high for "Yes Dear" and a dominant showing for "CSI: Miami," which grabbed its best 18-49 score (6.9/18) since Nov. 11.
The WB moved up to fourth among adults 18-34 as "Smallville" set another all-time net record in the demo (5.7/14). Frog's Friday comedy block, paced by rookie "What I Like About You" and sophomore "Reba," also hit a season high in persons 12-34 (2.0/7) and won the night in women 18-34.
UPN was led by "Enterprise," which grabbed its best 18-49 rating since early November (2.3/6).
TNT was a strong No. 1 among the advertiser-supported cable nets, as Sunday's NBA All-Star Game became the most-watched basketball game ever on cable (10.83m) and was also cable's top draw in adults 18-49 (4.7/11).
For the week in primetime, TNT's 1.3 rating in adults 18-49 easily topped runners-up TBS (0.9) and USA (0.6). TNT also drew the largest overall aud (3.22 million), followed by Nickelodeon (2.15m) and TBS (2.12m).
Elsewhere:
Sunday shift helps both: NBC, by replacing newsmag "Dateline" with reality show "Fear Factor" at 7 on Sunday, won that hour in adults 18-49 (3.5/10) for the first time since July.
At the same time, the lack of news competish seemed to help CBS' "60 Minutes," which won the hour in adults 25-54 (4.8/12) for only the second time this season and dominated among total viewers (16.86m) with its most impressive perf in a while.
Friday at 8: The nets spread around the wealth in this competitive hour, with different winners in five key categories: ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" in 18-49 (3.1/10), NBC's "Mister Sterling" in 25-54 (4.0/11), Fox's "Fastlane" in 18-34 (2.5/9), the WB's "What I Like About You" and "Sabrina" in femmes 12-34 (2.9/10), and CBS' "The Price Is Right" spec in total viewers (11.50m).
No evening snooze: Viewers turned out in season-high numbers for the broadcast nets' three evening newscasts (a collective 34 share in adults 25-54 and 32.5 million viewers overall) in a week dominated with stories on the space shuttle Columbia tragedy and the impending war on Iraq.
NBC, as usual, led the way with a 3.9/13 in the demo.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com