ABC wins tight Thursday race

'Scrubs' exits NBC on down note

By STUART LEVINE

ABC squeaked out a win over CBS Thursday night, as "Grey's Anatomy" was the top show of the evening in the 18-49 demo, improving slightly from last week. NBC's ratings fell from last Thursday, and the final episode of "Scrubs" to air on the network also saw erosion.

According to preliminary national ratings from Nielsen, "Survivor" (4.1 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, 12.6 million viewers overall) handily won the 8 o'clock hour, besting a combination of NBC's "My Name Is Earl" (2.6/8, 6.0 million viewers overall) and "Scrubs" (2.5/7, 5.3 million viewers overall). Both Peacock skeins were down from a week ago. ABC's "Ugly Betty" (2.4/7, 7.9 million viewers overall) was on par with last week's numbers. Fox's gameshow "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" (1.9/6, 7.2 million viewers overall) also took a hit.

While "Grey's Anatomy" (6.1/16, 15.5 million viewers overall) scored the biggest demo numbers of the night in the 9 o'clock hour, CBS' "CSI" (4.9/13, 17.8 million viewers overall), the second half of the writers trade-off with "Two and a Half Men," was the most-watched program. "The Office" (3.6/9, 7.2 million viewers overall) suffered a bit of drop while the 9:30 season finale of "30 Rock" (2.6/7, 5.6 million viewers overall) was on par with its penultimate episode. With a weak lead in, Fox's "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (2.0/5, 6.2 million viewers overall) saw a 20% drop in its ratings number from last week.

At 10 o'clock, "Lost" won the hour (4.9/13, 11.2 million viewers overall), although "Without a Trace" (3.8/10, 14.5 million viewers overall) saw a 14% ratings increase and was the most-watched show of the hour. NBC's "ER" (2.9/8, 7.6 million viewers overall) trailed.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 4.4/12; CBS, 4.3/12; NBC, 2.8/8; Fox, 2.0/5; Univision, 1.7/5, CW, 1.3/4.

In total viewers: CBS, 15.0 million; ABC, 11.6 million; Fox, 6.9 million; NBC, 6.5 million; Univision, 3.7 million; CW, 3.2 million.