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CBS won the first full week of the November "sweeps" period, while No. 2 ABC's ratings renaissance -- guided by "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" -- continued to amaze.
CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was the most-watched program for the week ending Sunday, with 29.6 million viewers, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. CBS had six of the top 10 programs, including "Without a Trace," "CSI: New York" and "Survivor: Guatemala." Overall, CBS ran away with the prime-time crown, averaging 14.5 million viewers, with ABC next at 11.4 million.
CBS also eked out a narrow victory over ABC in the crucial 18-49 demographic. But ABC is the only network that has shown growth in that category this season, with ratings up 5% compared with the same period a year ago. CBS is flat, while NBC and Fox are each down 15%. And ABC is currently tied with CBS for first place season-to-date in that demographic -- a feat few thought possible a year ago.
The week wasn't kind to NBC, whose 18-49 ratings have plummeted a whopping 24% compared with the November 2004 sweeps. The network's most-watched program was No. 14-ranked "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (with 15.8 million viewers). Although the new comedy "My Name Is Earl" (11.6 million) provided some help, it wasn't enough to counteract weak performers such as "Surface" (9.3 million) and the now-canceled "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" (6.4 million).
On basic cable, ESPN was the week's most-watched network in prime time (averaging 3.3 million viewers versus USA's 2.8 million). The most-watched program was ESPN's Browns-Steelers NFL matchup Sunday (9.8 million).
-- Scott Collins
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