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 …