RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
21,338,000

2
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
18,684,000

3
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
18,469,000

4
DANCING W/STARS SP-9/23(S)
ABC
18,302,000

5
NCIS
CBS
18,026,000

6
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
NBC
17,340,000

7
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
17,233,000

8
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
17,007,000

9
DANCING W/STARS RESULT SP(S)
ABC
15,867,000

10
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
15,603,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 22, 2008 – September, 28 2008)

ABC’s post-debate analysis of Barack Obama and John McCain’s first presidential debate was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Friday, September 26, 2008.  The show drew an average of almost 8.3 million viewers.
CBS’s “The Mentalist” claimed second place, with almost 7.9 million average viewers, while NBC’s post-debate coverage rounded out the top three, with just over 7.1 million average viewers.
Post-debate analysis on CBS (6.1 million average viewers) and FOX News (3.9 million average viewers) also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
VOTE2008: ANALYSIS-FRI(S)-09/26/2008
ABC
8,272,000

2
MENTALIST, THE-FRIDAY SP(S)-09/26/2008
CBS
7,896,000

3
DECISION ‘08:PRES ANALSYS(S)-09/26/2008
NBC
7,124,000

4
20/20 SP EDITION-9/26(S)-09/26/2008
ABC
6,891,000

5
CAMPAIGN ‘08-DEBATE …

The season premiere of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Thursday, September 25, 2008.  The show drew an average of almost 18.5 million viewers.
CBS’s “Survivor: Gabon” season premiere claimed second place, with almost 13.1 million average viewers, while the season premiere of ABC’s other Thursday night premiere, “Ugly Betty,” rounded out the top three, with just over 9.8 million average viewers.
NBC’s three Thursday night season premieres, “Office,” “E.R.,” and “My Name Is Earl,” also made the top ten.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
18,469,000

2
SURVIVOR: GABON
CBS
13,058,000

3
UGLY BETTY
ABC
9,810,000

4
OFFICE
NBC
9,338,000

5
CSI 10PM-SPECIAL(S)-09/25/2008
CBS
9,280,000

6
E.R.
NBC
8,028,000

7
MY …

ABC, CBS, and NBC aired almost three times more TV advertising during the Democratic National Convention than during the Republican National Convention, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Friday.
The three networks aired more than 36 minutes of commercials, including promotional announcements and public service announcements, during the DNC — compared with just 13 minutes of commercials during the GOP convention, according to Nielsen.
Of the three networks, CBS aired the most advertising during both conventions.

Network
# of Commercial Minutes
Democratic Convention
(mm:ss)
# of Commercial Minutes
Republican Convention
(mm:ss)

ABC
9:36
4:48

CBS
15:48
5:30

NBC
11:00
2:54

Total
36:24
13:12

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 25 – 28, 2008 and September 2 …

The season premiere of CBS’s “Criminal Minds” was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Wednesday, September 24, 2008.  The show drew an average of just over 17 million viewers.
ABC’s special presentation of “Dancing with the Stars” claimed second place, with almost 15.9 million average viewers, while the season premiere of CBS’s “CSI:NY” rounded out the top three, with almost 14.6 million average viewers.
Several other Wednesday night premieres also made the top ten: NBC’s “Knight Rider” and “Lipstick Jungle,” as well as CBS’s “Gary Unmarried” and ”New Adventures of Old Christine.”

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL …

Night two of ABC’s three-night “Dancing with the Stars” season premiere was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Tuesday, September 23, 2008.  The show drew an average of just over 18.3 million viewers — down from 21.3 million viewers the previous night.
Two of CBS’s season premieres, “NCIS” and “The Mentalist,” claimed the next two spots in Tuesday night’s rankings, with average audiences of approximately 18 million and 15.6 million viewers, respectively.
The second episode of the new season of FOX’s “House” (12.4 million average viewers) and the season premiere …

The season premiere of ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Monday, September 22, 2008, drawing an average of just over 21.3 million viewers.
Three of CBS’s Monday night premieres, “CSI: Miami,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “Worst Week,” claimed the next three slots in the rankings, with average audiences of approximately 17.2 million, 14.9 million, and 10.9 million viewers, respectively.
The season premiere of NBC’s “Heroes” rounded out the top five, with just over 10 million average viewers.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
21,338,000

2
CSI: …

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
NBC
22,230,000

2
HOUSE
FOX
14,773,000

3
60 MINUTES
CBS
14,594,000

4
SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK
NBC
14,024,000

5
FRINGE
FOX
13,272,000

6
PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS(S)
ABC
12,339,000

7
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT-WED
NBC
12,235,000

8
FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3
NBC
10,924,000

9
CSI
CBS
10,190,000

10
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT 9/18(S)
NBC
10,032,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 15, 2008 – September 21, 2008)

Univision’s “Al Diablo Con Guapos” was the top-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Friday, September 19, 2008, drawing an average of almost 6.8 million viewers.
CBS’s “Numbers” claimed second place, with an average audience of almost 6.4 million, and FOX’s “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” rounded out the top three, drawing an average of almost 6.1 million viewers.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS FRI
UNI
6,780,000

2
NUMB3RS
CBS
6,352,000

3
SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER
FOX
6,064,000

4
NUMB3RS 9PM
CBS
6,050,000

5
20/20-FRI
ABC
5,754,000

6
AMER FUNN HOME VIDEOS-FRI
ABC
5,395,000

7
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
5,306,000

8
DATELINE FRI
NBC
5,298,000

9
DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS
FOX
5,263,000

10
FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
CW
4,083,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 19, 2008)

Overall, CBS won the night with …

CBS’s “CSI” and “Flashpoint” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Thursday, September 18, 2008.
NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” was sandwiched between the two, in second place.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
10,190,000

2
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT 9/18(S)-09/18/2008
NBC
10,032,000

3
FLASHPOINT
CBS
9,673,000

4
CSI – 8PM SPECIAL(S)-09/18/2008
CBS
7,958,000

5
KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
FOX
6,154,000

6
AL DIABLO CON GUAPOS THU
UNI
6,104,000

7
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
5,924,000

8
HOLE IN WALL THU-8:30P
FOX
5,331,000

9
MY NAME IS EARL
NBC
5,048,000

10
OFFICE
NBC
4,477,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 18, 2008 )

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 9.3 million viewers, while FOX took second place with approximately 5.4 million average viewers.  ABC and NBC claimed third and fourth …