'Survivor' pegs CBS beachhead
Fast sweeps start for Eye
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It figures to be the most atypical sweeps month in memory. Not only is the Super Bowl again in the ratings period (on ABC), but NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics (Feb. 10-26) figures to skate circles around much of its competish. And Fox, of course, is loading up on "American Idol," which is performing at record levels.
Season leader CBS is actually pegged to finish fourth for the sweep in 18-49 even though it leads handily through the first three nights.
According to Thursday Nielsen nationals, "Survivor: Exile Island" (7.0 rating/18 share in 18-49, 19.20 million viewers overall) came in below the skein's other winter-edition preems but ahead of last September's "Guatemala" bow. It won in all key measures.
That helped "CSI" to its best scores of the new year (9.6/23, 28.37m), and "Without a Trace" prevailed from 10:02 to 11 (6.7/17, 20.80m).
At ABC, "Dancing With the Stars" (4.9/12 in 18-49, 18.83m) eased by just 4% week-to-week despite the stronger CBS deliveries, hitting a season high in women 18-34 (5.6/15). "Crumbs" (2.7/6, 9.13m) and "Primetime" (2.0/5, 6.69m) both fizzled behind it, though.
NBC's middle hour of "My Name Is Earl" (5.0/12 in 18-49, 10.60m) and "The Office" (4.8/11, 9.21m) held up well despite being surrounded by series-low scores from "Will & Grace" (3.0/8 in 18-49), "Four Kings" (2.9/7, 6.60m) and "ER" (5.9/15, 13.76m).
Fox was paced by an hour of "That '70s Show" (2.8/7 in 18-49, 5.81m), and the WB by good perfs from both "Smallville" (2.4/6, 5.37m) and "Beauty and the Geek" (2.2/5, 4.56m).
Compared with the opening Thursday of the November sweep (a cleaner comparison than last February), ABC (+24%), Fox (+13%) and the WB (+28%) were up in 18-49 while CBS held steady (+1%) and NBC was off slightly (-4%). UPN slipped by 23%.
In Friday's Nielsen prelims, the "Dancing With the Stars" results show on ABC hit a high (3.9/12 in 18-49, 15.9 million), opening up some distance on CBS drama "Ghost Whisperer" (3.1/10, 11.0 million).
NBC's two-hour "Dateline" took over from there with a hidden-camera report on men trying to meet minors online for sex (prelim 3.8/11 in 18-49, 10.6 million). No net has earned a higher 18-49 score in the slot since CBS college hoops action last March.
Eye 10 p.m. drama "Numbers" (prelim 3.7/11, 13.1 million) fell behind "Dateline" in 18-49, but prevailed in 25-54 (5.0/13) and total viewers.
UPN's "WWE Smackdown" (1.6/5, 4.4 million) was a tick off the 18-34 lead from 8 to 10 (2.0/7).
Saturday prelim highlights included "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials" spec on CBS (3.0/9 in 18-49, 9.3 million) and "America's Most Wanted" on Fox (2.9/9, 7.5 million).
In latenight, "Saturday Night Live" (with Steve Martin and Prince) racked up a 7.0 household rating/16 share in Nielsen's metered-market overnights, the show's best since October 2004.
