Nets sluggish post-sweep

CBS' 'Survivor: China' is night's top-rated show

By VARIETY STAFF

The first night following the conclusion of the November sweep produced lackluster results as roughly half of the broadcast programs aired repeats. CBS led the way in demos for a fourth straight Thursday, with "Survivor: China" standing as the night's top-rated show.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen that include same-day DVR playback, CBS opened the night with an easy victory courtesy of "Survivor" (4.5 rating/12 share in 18-49, 13.8 million viewers overall), although it was a bit below average. A repeat of "CSI" captured the 9 o'clock hour (2.5/7 in 18-49, 12.3 million viewers overall), while a repeat of 10 o'clock drama "Without a Trace" (2.5/7 in 18-49, 9.9 million viewers overall) settled for second place in demos opposite firstrun dramas on the other nets, but drew the hour's most viewers overall.

NBC started slowly with original episodes of "My Name Is Earl" (2.6/7 in 18-49, 6.6 million viewers overall) and "30 Rock" (2.5/6 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall), but the latter did hold on to a bigger chunk of its lead-in this week. A repeat of "The Office" (3.0/7 in 18-49, 6.0 million viewers overall) and a firstrun "Scrubs" (3.1/7 in 18-49, 5.9 million viewers overall) were competitive in the 9 o'clock hour, and "ER" moved to the lead at 10 o'clock with an original episode (3.4/9 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall) although it was on the low end.

ABC didn't do much with an "Ugly Betty" repeat at 8 (1.9/5 in 18-49, 6.5 million viewers overall), but picked it up some with a repeat "Grey's Anatomy" at 9 (3.1/8 in 18-49, 9.0 million viewers overall). "Big Shots" closed out the night with a third-place finish (2.4/6 in 18-49, 6.0 million viewers overall).

Fox did OK with crossover episodes of reality series "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" (2.4/6 in 18-49, 9.0 million viewers overall) and "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (2.8/7 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall), with the latter logging some of its best scores of the season.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 3.5/9; NBC, 3.0/8; Fox, 2.6/7; ABC, 2.5/6; Univision, 1.9/5; CW, 0.9/2.

In total viewers: CBS, 12.0 million; Fox, 8.8 million; ABC, 7.2 million; NBC, 6.9 million; Univision, 4.3 million; CW, 2.3 million.