ABC’s “Barbara Walters Special” claimed the top slot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for January 7, 2009.  The show drew almost 12.6 million average viewers Wednesday night.
NBC’s “Law And Order” was the second-ranked program, with almost 10.3 million average viewers, while CBS’s “People’s Choice Awards Special” rounded out the top three (roughly 9.4 million average viewers).

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
BARBARA WALTERS SP-1/7(S)-01/07/2009
ABC
12,550,000

2
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
10,259,000

3
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS(S)-01/07/2009
CBS
9,407,000

4
20/20 SP EDITION-1/7(S)-01/07/2009
ABC
7,945,000

5
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,893,000

6
LAW AND ORDER:SVU 9P
NBC
7,475,000

7
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,131,000

8
BONES
FOX
6,639,000

9
BONES-WED 9P
FOX
6,551,000

10
KNIGHT RIDER
NBC
5,736,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (January 7, 2009).

Overall, CBS won the night with an …