'CSI: NY' hit a season high with crossover from 'CSI: Miami.'
'Lost' was Wednesday's top show.
ABC's "Lost" and CBS' "CSI: NY" were the standout performers Wednesday, helping their respective nets to the top of the standings after the opening week of the November sweep.
The Alphabet won the night among young adults but the Eye closed the gap thanks to season highs for "CSI: NY," with the conclusion of a crossover episode from "CSI: Miami" that began Monday. Wednesday also saw a weak second-season preem for Fox laffer "Stacked."
ABC has a narrow lead over CBS for the month among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen, and it looks like the two will be battling down to the wire. The Eye is out in front in both adults 25-54 and total viewers.
"Lost" (8.3 rating/20 share in adults 18-49, 20.01 million viewers overall) was the night's top program, although this were its lowest firstrun scores of the season. CBS' "Criminal Minds" (4.3/11, 15.09m) was a solid second with its best showing yet opposite an original "Lost," and Fox's "Trading Spouses" ran third (3.9/9, 8.24m).
That left NBC's "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" a distant fourth (2.3/6, 6.37m).
CBS took control of the 10 o'clock hour with the best demo results in nearly a year for second-season drama "CSI: NY" (6.5/17, 19.22m), which slightly outdrew the numbers for the Monday episode of "CSI: Miami" that kicked off the crossover storyline.
ABC's "Invasion" ran second at 10 (3.9/10 in 18-49, 9.76m), losing more than half of its lead-in, and NBC's "Law & Order," saddled with a weak lead-in, finished third (3.6/9, 10.86m).
No single show dominated in the night's opening hour, with Fox's "That '70s Show" ruling in demos at 8 (3.4/10 in 18-49, 6.98m) and ABC's "Freddie" on top at 8:30 (3.5/9, 8.36m).
Season preem of Pamela Anderson starrer "Stacked" fell to fifth place at 8:30 (2.2/6, 5.05m), retaining just 65% of its lead-in.
Also in the hour, NBC's "E-Ring" matched its best delivery to date (2.8/8 in 18-49, 9.87m), winning in adults 25-54 (3.7/8) and total viewers. UPN's "America's Next Top Model 5" (2.6/7 in 18-49, 5.54m) won the slot in 18-34 (3.0/9) and drew its largest overall aud of the season.
For the night, ABC led in 18-49 with a 5.1 rating/13 share to a season-high 4.5/12 for CBS. The Eye's overall average aud of 14.2 million put it ahead of ABC's 12.6 million.
And for the sweep through Wednesday, ABC had a 4.5/12 in 18-49 (up 10% vs. last year), followed by CBS (4.4/12, down 6%), NBC (3.3/9, down 20%) and Fox (3.0/8, up 3%). UPN (1.5/4, even) and the WB (1.5/4, down 6%) were tied for fifth and also deadlocked in their target demo of 18-34 (1.6/5).
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com