CBS Dominates Thursday Ratings

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President George W. Bush threw a wrench in the network’s plan to get an early jump on May Sweeps.

Thursday night was supposed to be the first night of the all-important May sweeps period. The networks planned to bring out some big programming in a final push for ratings.

But beacuse of Bush’s press conference the networks were forces to turn their schedules upside down. This left Thursday ratings race that won’t become clear until final figures become available.

Even so it is clear that CBS won the night easily with an average of 13.7 rating/22 share from 9-11 p.m. (and a 12.3/19 overall). NBC finished in second with a 9.0/14 in the same time period (7.6/12 overall). ABC ran its Bush coverage longer, so the network’s 4.4/7 was really only for 9:30-11 p.m. The numbers for UPN (3.2/5) and The WB (2.6/4) are unlikely to change as both networks had strong nights. FOX dragged to last with a 2.5/4 was for the 9 p.m. hour only.

CBS can also claim victor in the 18-49 demographic, delivering a 7.8 rating for the network’s two hours of original programming (6.8 overall), better than the 6.1 rating for NBC (4.8 overall). UPN’s 1.9 rating, FOX’s 1.8 rating, the 1.7 rating for ABC and The WB’s 1.6 rating followed.

CBS swept the night, starting at 8 p.m. with the 9.5/15 for its Presidential Coverage. The ratings were boosted to a major degree by the fact that much of the nation was watching “Survivor” during that hour. NBC was second with a 4.8/8. ABC and FOX followed. UPN’s “WWE Smackdown!” was fifth with a 3.0/5. The WB averaged a 2.7/4 for “Blue Collar TV” and a Ron White Special.

At 9 p.m., CBS aired “Survivor: Vanuatu” to a 13.5/21, though much of the nation was watching “CSI” during that hour. NBC was second with the 8.2/13 for “The Apprentice.” ABC finished third with Presidential coverage and “Primetime Live.” UPN’s wrestling was fourth with a 3.4/5. “The Simple Life,” averaged a mere 2.5/4 for a new episode and a repeat, tying with The WB’s “Mobile Home Disasters.”

CBS closed the evening in first with a 13.9/23 for “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (and a “Without a Trace” repeat in many markets). NBC’s “ER” was second with a 9.9/16. ABC was last with “Primetime.”

Credit: Zap2It.com