CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, October 22, 2008.
Game one of the MLB World Series, which aired on FOX, was sandwiched in between the two, in second place.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
15,012,000

2
FOX WORLD SERIES GAME 1(S)-10/22/2008
FOX
14,634,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
14,390,000

4
FOX WORLD SERIES GM1-PRE(S)-10/22/2008
FOX
9,729,000

5
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
7,980,000

6
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,756,000

7
DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED
NBC
7,608,000

8
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,556,000

9
KNIGHT RIDER
NBC
7,226,000

10
DIRTY SEXY MONEY
ABC
5,745,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 22, 2008).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average audience of almost 14 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 12.4 million average …

CBS’s “NCIS” and “The Mentalist” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Tuesday, October 21, 2008.
ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” was sandwiched between the two, in second place.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
NCIS
CBS
17,226,000

2
DANCING W/STARS RESULTS
ABC
16,350,000

3
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
15,282,000

4
HOUSE
FOX
13,085,000

5
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
11,629,000

6
LAW AND ORDER:SVU
NBC
9,497,000

7
DANCING W/STARS RECAP(S)-10/21/2008
ABC
9,037,000

8
FRINGE
FOX
8,914,000

9
ELI STONE
ABC
8,012,000

10
BIGGEST LOSER 6
NBC
7,407,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 21, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of just over 14.7 million viewers, while ABC took second place with just over 11.2 million average viewers. FOX and NBC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 11 …

ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” was the number one-ranked primetime broadcast for October 20, 2008.  The telecast drew almost 18.5 million average viewers Monday evening.
CBS’s “Two And A Half Men” (14.6 million average viewers) and “CSI: Miami” (13.5 million average viewers) rounded out the top three programs for the night.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
18,497,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
14,630,000

3
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
13,505,000

4
WORST WEEK
CBS
9,875,000

5
SAMANTHA WHO?
ABC
9,636,000

6
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
9,446,000

7
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
9,331,000

8
HEROES
NBC
8,510,000

9
BOSTON LEGAL
ABC
8,137,000

10
CHUCK
NBC
6,872,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 20, 2008).

Overall, ABC won the night with an average audience of almost 13.7 million viewers, while CBS …

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
19,275,000

2
NCIS
CBS
18,038,000

3
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
17,765,000

4
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
ABC
15,485,000

5
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
14,935,000

6
DANCING W/STARS RESULTS
ABC
14,816,000

7
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
14,803,000

8
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
14,719,000

9
60 MINUTES
CBS
14,533,000

10
HOUSE
FOX
13,269,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 13, 2008 – October 19, 2008).

CBS’s “Ghost Whisperer” (8.97 million average viewers) and “Numbers” (8.67 million average viewers) were the number one- and number two-ranked primetime broadcasts for Friday, October 17, 2008. 
The premiere of NBC’s “Crusoe” rounded out the top three, with almost 7.4 million average viewers.

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
GHOST WHISPERER
CBS
8,974,000

2
NUMB3RS
CBS
8,676,000

3
CRUSOE
NBC
7,383,000

4
20/20-FRI
ABC
6,935,000

5
EX LIST, THE
CBS
6,293,000

6
LIFE
NBC
5,894,000

7
SMARTER THAN 5TH 10/17-9P(S)-10/17/2008
FOX
5,616,000

8
SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER
FOX
5,187,000

9
SUPERNANNY
ABC
5,116,000

10
WIFE SWAP
ABC
4,954,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 17, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 8.0 million viewers, while NBC took second place with almost 6.9 million average viewers. ABC and FOX claimed third and fourth …

CBS’s “CSI” and “Survivor: Gabon” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Thursday, October 16, 2008.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was sandwiched between the two, in second place.

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
19,275,000

2
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
14,803,000

3
SURVIVOR: GABON
CBS
12,807,000

4
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
11,907,000

5
E.R.
NBC
8,961,000

6
SNL:WKND UPDT 10/16(S)-10/16/2008
NBC
8,832,000

7
UGLY BETTY
ABC
8,327,000

8
OFFICE
NBC
8,276,000

9
LIFE ON MARS
ABC
8,220,000

10
MY NAME IS EARL
NBC
6,722,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 16, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of 14.7 million viewers, while ABC took second place with almost 10.5 million average viewers. NBC and Univision claimed third and fourth places with roughly 8.0 million and 4.5 million average …

NBC’s post-debate analysis of the final presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama edged past ABC’s post-debate coverage to claim the number one spot in Nielsen’s ranking of the top primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, October 15, 2008.
FOX, which aired live coverage of Game 5 of Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series — instead of the debate, rounded out the top three.
CBS’s post-debate analysis also made the top ten.

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
DECISION ‘08:PRES ANALYS3(S)-10/15/2008
NBC
9,091,000

2
VOTE2008:ANALYSIS-WED(S)-10/15/2008
ABC
8,864,000

3
FOX MLB NLCS GAME 5(S)-10/15/2008
FOX
8,029,000

4
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,613,000

5
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,529,000

6
KNIGHT RIDER
NBC
7,470,000

7
CAMPAIGN ‘08-DEBATE ANL-3(S)-10/15/2008
CBS
7,189,000

8
PUSHING DAISIES
ABC
6,108,000

9
FOX MLB NLCS GAME …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Professional baseball, football, basketball, hockey — and even NASCAR — all converge in October, making it one of the year’s busiest sports months.  Unfortunately, that plethora of options frequently presents sports fans with difficult TV viewing decisions.
Take this past Sunday — when NBC’s Sunday Night Football carried live coverage of the San Diego Chargers playing the New England Patriots.  Meanwhile, Game 3 of the MLB National League Championship Series aired live on FOX.

CBS’s “NCIS” and “The Mentalist” were, respectively, the number one- and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Tuesday, October 14, 2008.
“NCIS” drew an average audience of just over 18 million viewers, while “The Mentalist” drew roughly 14.9 million average viewers.
ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” rounded out the top three, with just over 14.8 million average viewers.
The season premiere of ABC’s “Eli Stone,” which drew almost 8.4 million average viewers, also made the top ten.

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
NCIS
CBS
18,038,000

2
MENTALIST, THE
CBS
14,935,000

3
DANCING W/STARS RESULTS
ABC
14,816,000

4
HOUSE
FOX
13,269,000

5
WITHOUT A TRACE
CBS
11,051,000

6
LAW AND ORDER:SVU
NBC
9,512,000

7
FRINGE
FOX
9,157,000

8
ELI STONE
ABC
8,394,000

9
BIGGEST LOSER 6
NBC
7,637,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE
UNI
5,188,000

Source: …

ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” claimed the number one spot on Nielsen’s ranking of the top-rated primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Monday, October 13, 2008.
CBS dominated the rest of Nielsen’s top 10 list, with “Two And Half Men,” “CSI: Miami,” “Worst Week,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “How I Met Your Mother” claiming five of the nine remaining slots.

RANK
PROGRAM
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
DANCING WITH THE STARS
ABC
17,765,000

2
TWO AND A HALF MEN
CBS
14,719,000

3
CSI: MIAMI
CBS
13,217,000

4
SAMANTHA WHO?
ABC
11,446,000

5
WORST WEEK
CBS
9,754,000

6
BIG BANG THEORY, THE
CBS
9,337,000

7
HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
CBS
9,249,000

8
HEROES
NBC
8,753,000

9
BOSTON LEGAL
ABC
8,015,000

10
FOX MLB NLCS GAME 4(S)-10/13/2008
FOX
7,705,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (September 13, 2008).

Overall, ABC won …