AMERICAN IDOL - SUPER BOWL REIGNS SUPREME

Fox's American Idol may have attracted 33.65 million viewers last Tuesday and 31.5 million on Wednesday, but those two audience totals combined would not have come close to equaling the 93.18 million who tuned in for CBS's coverage of the Super Bowl on Sunday. CBS wouldn't have needed to place another show in the upper rankings of the Nielsen ratings list for the February sweeps week -- but it did. Besides pre- and post-game shows and the Sunday airing of Criminal Minds, the network also scored solidly with two editions (one, a repeat) of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Nos. 9 and 17), Shark (No. 11), CSI: Miami, (No. 13), Two and a Half Men (No. 16), and NCIS (No. 18). For the week, CBS wound up with a whopping 12.6 rating and a 20 share. Fox, its closest competitor, turned in a 6.7/10. NBC placed third with an average 5.3/8, while ABC trailed with a 4.9/8.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research:
1. Super Bowl XLI, CBS, 42.6/64; 2. Super Bowl XLI Post Game 1, CBS, 38.1/56; 3. Super Bowl XLI Post Game 2, CBS, 28.1/44; 4. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 18.6/28; 5. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 18.0/27; 6. House, Fox, 15.6/24; 7. Criminal Minds (Post Super Bowl), CBS, 15.1/26; 8. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 15.0/22; 9. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 13.5/20; 10. Deal or No Deal (Monday), NBC, 10.4/16.

07/02/2007