Politics, football bring in big ratings
CBS comedies win Monday night
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That left Fox on the outside looking in, finishing a distant fourth one week after the end of the World Series and football helped it top its rivals in key demos.
Meanwhile, in a big week for election news, Fox News drew the most viewers in cable, with CNN running second and MSNBC fifth.
Overall for the Nov. 3-9 frame, according to "live plus same day" national estimates from Nielsen, NBC and ABC both claimed a share of the lead among adults 18-49 (3.2 rating/8 share), followed by CBS (3.0/8), Fox (2.3/6), Univision (1.6/4) and ESPN (1.2/3).
ABC and CBS tied for the week's lead in adults 25-54 (3.9/9), and CBS drew the most viewers overall for a sixth straight frame (11.04 million).
NBC may have drawn weak showings from first-year shows like "Knight Rider" (1.6/4 in 18-49, 5.12m) and "Crusoe" (1.0/3, 4.20m), but its "Sunday Night Football" matchup between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles was the week's No. 1 program in 18-49 (6.7/16 in 18-49, 17.56m) -- logging one of the franchise's best scores of the season.
The Peacock also received a significant boost on Monday from its two-hour Election Eve "Saturday Night Live: Presidential Bash" spec (5.6/13 in 18-49, 14.44m) and placed a close second on Election Night (4.3/9, 12.10m).
When all the Nielsen precincts were counted, ABC carried Election Night (4.5/10, 13.23m), ending NBC's recent run of success on the night.
Elsewhere, ABC claimed the week's top two entertainment series in "Grey's Anatomy" (6.0/14 in 18-49, 15.74m) and "Desperate Housewives" (5.9/13, 15.85m) -- both up week to week. "Dancing With the Stars" (3.9/9, 17.09m) and "Brothers and Sisters" cracked the top 20 as well.
Also notable were best-since-premiere scores for the Alphabet dramas "Private Practice" (3.1/8 in 18-49, 9.17m) and rookie "Life on Mars" (2.9/8, 8.71m).
The Alphabet was a dominant No. 1 on Saturday with college football (2.8/9 in 18-49, 8.48m for split national coverage of Texas Tech-Oklahoma State and USC-California).
CBS got a big boost from an NFL overrun (8.8/26 in 18-49, 26.36m from 7 to 7:26 p.m.) but performed weakly on Election Night (2.3/5 in 18-49, 7.41m). At least the news division was repped better on Sunday as "60 Minutes," airing behind football, posted a rare finish as the week's most-watched program overall (18.47 million).
Among entertainment skeins, Monday laffers "The Big Bang Theory" (3.7/10 in 18-49, 9.67m) and "How I Met Your Mother" (4.1/10, 9.40m) achieved season highs, with "Big Bang Theory" hitting another peak on Monday of the current week (prelim 3.9/10 in 18-49, 10.0 million).
Also, "CSI" (5.1/12 in 18-49, 18.18m) and "Two and a Half Men" (4.6/10, 12.76m) were in the week's top 10, and Friday's "Ghost Whisperer" (2.8/9, 10.89m) drew its best numbers of the season.
Fox, without a football overrun on Sunday and top dramas "House" and "Fringe" on Tuesday, had a quiet week led by "Family Guy" (4.2/9, 8.47m) and "The Simpsons" (3.8/10, 8.01m). "Bones" also remains a solid midweek player (3.3/9, 10.17m).
CW was able to match its year-ago 18-34 average despite its embarrassingly low numbers Sunday for repeats of its lineup, which averaged just 600,000 viewers. A standout performer was "Smallville" (1.9/5 in 18-49, 4.46m), which hit season highs on Thursday, and "America's Next Top Model" (2.0/5 in 18-49, 3.82m) matched its season high in 18-34 (2.5/8).
MyNetwork set another network record with "WWE Friday Night Smackdown," which averaged 3.68 million viewers. In adults 18-49, it edged out NBC (1.2/4 to 1.1/3) from 8 to 10 p.m. for a second straight week.
