"CSI" and "Survivor" helped CBS dominate primetime on Thursday, as the net easily won every half-hour of the evening, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.
"Survivor: Palau" (7.1 rating/22 share in adults 18-49, 20 million viewers overall) kicked things off at 8 with another winning effort, towering 14 shares over second-place Fox's "The OC" (2.7/8 in adults 18-49, 6.2 million viewers overall). NBC was even 2 shares behind that with repeat comedies.
At 9, "CSI" (9.3/24 in adults 18-49, 27.1 million viewers overall) crushed NBC's "The Apprentice 3" (5.6/15 in adults 18-49, 12.2 million viewers overall), which continues to lag the ratings pace of the previous two editions. Fox's "Tru Calling" (1.9/5 in adults 18-49, 4.4 million viewers overall) was a distant third, tied with the final hour of UPN's "WWE Smackdown."
CBS also ruled at 10 with "Without a Trace" (6.5/18 in adults 18-49, 20.3 million viewers overall), even though NBC's "ER" put up pretty good numbers for a repeat (4.4/12 in adults 18-49, 10.2 million viewers overall). ABC's "Primetime Live" remained a laggard in the hour (1.7/5 in adults 18-49, 5.3 million viewers overall).
Preliminary adults 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 7.6/21; NBC, 4.0/11; Fox, 2.3/7; UPN, 1.8/5; ABC, 1.4/4; WB, 1.2/3.
In total viewers: CBS, 22.5 million; NBC, 9.2 million; Fox, 5.3 million; UPN, 5.3 million; WB, 3.0 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com