CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were the number one and two-ranked primetime telecasts on
broadcast TV for Wednesday, December 17, 2008, drawing approximately 15.2 and 13.4 million average viewers, respectively.
NBC’s “Muppets Christmas Letter to Santa” special rounded out the top three, with 7.5 million average viewers.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
15,160,000

2
CSI: NY
CBS
13,377,000

3
MUPPETS XMAS LTR TO SANTA(S)-12/17/2008
NBC
7,466,000

4
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,378,000

5
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,292,000

6
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
7,016,000

7
SECRET MLNR SP-12/17 8P(S)-12/17/2008
FOX
6,709,000

8
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
6,610,000

9
LIFE
NBC
5,216,000

10
DIRTY SEXY MONEY
ABC
5,129,000

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

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 12 million viewers,
while NBC took second place with almost 6.6 million average …

CBS’s “Criminal Minds,” “CSI: NY,” and “Old Christine” were the top three primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, December 10, 2008. 

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
14,677,000

2
CSI: NY
CBS
13,328,000

3
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,944,000

4
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,731,000

5
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
7,506,000

6
SECRET MLNR SP-12/10 8P(S)-12/10/2008
FOX
7,260,000

7
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
6,859,000

8
LIFE
NBC
5,639,000

9
DIRTY SEXY MONEY
ABC
5,240,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED
UNI
5,220,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (December 10, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 11.9 million viewers, while NBC took second place with almost 6 million average viewers.  FOX and ABC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 5.9 million and 5.7 million average viewers.  UNI and the MNT followed …

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were the number one- and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, November 26, 2008.
ABC’s “Barbara Walters Special” rounded out the top three.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
14,108,000

2
CSI: NY
CBS
12,304,000

3
BARBARA WALTERS SP-11/26(S)-11/26/2008
ABC
11,612,000

4
BONES
FOX
9,867,000

5
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,631,000

6
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,483,000

7
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
6,334,000

8
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
6,330,000

9
DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED
NBC
6,319,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED
UNI
5,506,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (November 25, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of just over 11.3 million viewers, while ABC took second place with just over 7.4 million average viewers. FOX and NBC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.3 …

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were the number one and number two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, November 19, 2008.
FOX’s “Bones” rounded out the top three with 10.8 million average viewers.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
16,334,000

2
CSI: NY
CBS
14,119,000

3
BONES
FOX
10,818,000

4
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,882,000

5
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,847,000

6
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
7,623,000

7
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
7,225,000

8
HOUSE-WED 9P
FOX
5,684,000

9
DIRTY SEXY MONEY
ABC
5,580,000

10
LIFE
NBC
5,427,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (November 19, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 12.8 million viewers,
while FOX took second place with almost 8.3 million average viewers. NBC and ABC
claimed third and fourth places with roughly 6.1 million and 5.9 million average viewers,
respectively. …

The CMA Awards, aired on ABC, were the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Wednesday, November 12, 2008.
CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” rounded out the top three.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CMA AWARDS(S)-11/12/2008
ABC
15,905,000

2
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
14,833,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
11,624,000

4
BONES
FOX
10,868,000

5
LAW AND ORDER
NBC
7,933,000

6
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
6,817,000

7
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
6,607,000

8
HOUSE-WED 9P
FOX
6,216,000

9
LIFE
NBC
5,809,000

10
FUEGO EN LA SANGRE WED
UNI
5,546,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (November 12, 2008).

Overall, ABC won the night with an average audience of almost 15.9 million viewers,
while CBS took second place with almost 11.1 million average viewers. FOX and NBC
claimed third and fourth places with roughly 8.5 million and 6.4 million average viewers,
respectively. Univision and the CW …

The conclusion of Game 5 of the MLB World Series, which aired on FOX, was the number one-ranked primetime telecast on broadcast TV for Wednesday, October 29, 2008.
CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” rounded out the top three.
NBC’s and CBS’s telecasts of Sen. Barack Obama’s half-hour political infomercial also made the top 10.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
FOX WRLD SERIES GM5 CONCL(S)-10/29/2008
FOX
19,844,000

2
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
13,966,000

3
CSI: NY
CBS
13,754,000

4
FOX WRLD SRS GM5 CONCLPRE(S)-10/29/2008
FOX
12,080,000

5
FOX WRLD SRS GM5 CONCLPST(S)-10/29/2008
FOX
10,538,000

6
OBAMA: PAID POLITICAL-NBC(S)-10/29/2008
NBC
9,911,000

7
OBAMA: PAID POLITICAL-CBS(S)-10/29/2008
CBS
8,602,000

8
DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED
NBC
8,337,000

9
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
7,933,000

10
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,607,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 29, 2008).

Overall, FOX won the night with an average …

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 …

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 …

CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” were the number one- and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Wednesday, October 8, 2008, drawing average audiences of almost 16.2 million and 15.9 million viewers.
FOX’s “Bones” rounded out the top three, with almost 10.6 million average viewers Wednesday night.

RANK
NAME
NETWORK
VIEWERS (P2+)

1
CRIMINAL MINDS
CBS
16,185,000

2
CSI: NY
CBS
15,873,000

3
BONES
FOX
10,559,000

4
OLD CHRISTINE
CBS
7,526,000

5
PRIVATE PRACTICE
ABC
7,400,000

6
GARY UNMARRIED
CBS
7,357,000

7
KNIGHT RIDER
NBC
6,856,000

8
BIGGEST LOSER 6 10/8(S)-10/08/2008
NBC
6,556,000

9
DIRTY SEXY MONEY
ABC
5,852,000

10
PUSHING DAISIES
ABC
5,501,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 8, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 13.2 million viewers, while FOX took second place with just over 7.4 million average viewers. ABC …