The season finale of 'Survivor: Samoa' garnered 13.97 million viewers for CBS.
'The Big Bang Theory'
Short-run series 'The Sing-Off' scored best-since-September numbers for NBC Monday before dipping later in the week.
CBS dominated primetime's ratings race last week thanks to originals of its strong scripted series and the concluding hours of reality vet "Survivor."
The Eye loaded up on firstrun fare in a week when its rivals opted for mostly repeats and holiday specs. As a result, CBS claimed 12 of the week's top 13 entertainment series in adults 18-49 and 15 of the top 16 in total viewers for the week.
CBS ends the fall as television's runaway leader in total viewers, holds a comfortable advantage over runner-up Fox in adults 25-54 and is within shouting distance of Fox for the lead in adults 18-49.
Fox takes a lead into winter for the first time and figures to stay on top through May if "American Idol" is anywhere near as strong as in recent years.
Looking at the same-day Nielsen estimates for the Dec. 14-20 sesh, CBS cruised in adults 18-49 with a 3.0 rating/9 share. Fox and NBC tied for second (2.4/7) -- and were only this close thanks to NFL action on Sunday -- and ABC ran a distant fourth (1.4/4), only slightly ahead of ESPN and USA (both 1.1/3).
The Eye also had it with ease in both adults 25-54 (3.9/10 to 2.8/7 for second-place NBC) and total viewers (11.5 million to 7.3 million for NBC). Overall, CBS had its best showing for the first week in which it did not air the late-afternoon NFL game since premiere week in September.
Week started off with a blast for CBS as its third-year comedy "The Big Bang Theory" established series highs (5.6/14 in 18-49, 15.58 million viewers overall) and held up as the week's No. 1 show in key demos. It was surrounded by strong perfs for "Two and a Half Men" (5.2/13, 16.37m) and "CSI: Miami" (4.1/11, 14.18m), and "How I Met Your Mother" continues to shine leading off the night (3.7/10, 9.64m).
The Eye also rolled on Tuesday behind "NCIS" (4.3/13 in 18-49, 20.69m) -- the week's most-watched program overall -- and rookie dramas "NCIS: Los Angeles" (3.6/10, 17.50m) and "The Good Wife" (2.8/8, 14.17m).
Wednesday saw some season highs for comedies "New Adventures of Old Christine" (2.3/7, 7.64m) and "Gary Unmarried" (2.5/7, 7.76m), and "Criminal Minds" was the night's top show (3.8/10, 15.68m).
And then there was "Survivor: Samoa," which dominated its regular Thursday slot (3.9/12 in 18-49, 12.46m) and was the top entertainment series Sunday with its two-hour finale (4.4/11, 13.97m) -- matching or slightly improving upon its fall finale of last year.
NBC delivered credible numbers for its short-run, multinight series "The Sing-Off," which opened with a two-hour installment on Monday (2.3/6 in 18-49, 6.89 million viewers overall) and then grew a bit in the demo on Tuesday (2.6/7, 6.86m) before dipping on Wednesday (2.1/6, 6.51m). The Monday perf was the net's best showing in the 8-10 p.m. block since September.
"The Jay Leno Show" (1.6/5 in 18-49, 5.22m) was above its recent averages, getting a bit of a lift from "Sing-Off" and benefiting from lesser competish on ABC and CBS in the night's final hour. Net notes that "Leno" finished ahead of a repeat drama on either ABC or CBS every night last week, with its best demo showing coming Tuesday (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.20m).
But the net's best numbers, as usual, came courtesy of "Sunday Night Football" (6.5/17 in 18-49, 18.19m), which was easily the night's -- and week's -- top program in 18-49. With the exception of the week of the World Series when it didn't air, "SNF" has been the No. 1 broadcast program in 18-49 each week this season.
Fox didn't do much for the week, though its hourlong NFL overrun on Sunday produced the biggest numbers for any hour (10.9/33 in 18-49, 31.3 million viewers overall). Net's highlight on the entertainment side was the two-night finale of "So You Think You Can Dance," which drew a nothing-special second-place finish on Wednesday (2.6/6 in 18-49, 7.09m).
ABC had a very quiet week, including soft scores for firstrun fare including Monday spec "Jennifer Hudson: Home for Christmas" (1.2/3 in 18-49, 5.60m), Tuesday comedy "Better Off Ted" (1.3/3, 3.18m) and Wednesday drama "Eastwick" (1.3/4, 3.66m). Even Sunday's preem of "The Santa Clause 3" wasn't so jolly (2.0/5, 7.08m).
In the evening news race, NBC's "Nightly News" remained on top (2.3/8 in adults 25-54, 9.22 million viewers overall), but second-place ABC's "World News" (1.9/7 in 25-54, 8.49m) closed the gap in Charles Gibson's final week as anchor. And when Gibson signed off on Friday, the ABC newscast scored a rare victory in total viewers and logged the program's best delivery on the night (8.96 million) since February 2008.In cable, USA used three hours of "WWE Raw" on Monday to finish neck and neck with ESPN in most categories.
TNT's "Men of a Certain Age" (1.3/3 in 18-49, 4.43m) dropped off from its strong premiere, but still looked good in building by a tick in the demo over lead-in "The Closer" (1.2/3, 5.45m).
At E!, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" set more series and network records Sunday (2.3/6 in 18-49, 4.24m) and was the week's No. 1 entertainment program on cable in 18-49. Also faring well was its lead-in, "Kendra" (1.4/4, 2.73m).
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com