DANCING WITH THE STARS - ABC DANCING ONE MINUTE, CRASHING THE NEXT

ABC DANCING ONE MINUTE, CRASHING THE NEXT

Dancing With the Stars is clearly to ABC what American Idol is to Fox -- the most important weapon in its arsenal against rivals. The problem is that neither of the shows provide much rerun opportunity and when they're over for the season the shows that replace them generally don't come close to equaling their ratings. That was particularly obvious in the case of Dancing . Last week's final episode attrracted $21.1 million viewers, the most for any regular non-sports show of the season. By comparison, the season debut of According to Jim one week later drew a last-place 5.83 million viewers for two back-to-back episodes in the 9 00 p.m. hour, leading MediaWeek.com's ratings columnist Marc Berman to ask, "Why is this show still on the air?" Dancing is not scheduled to return to ABC's lineup until March 9.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research 1 . Dancing With the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 12.9/20; 2. Dancing With the Stars (Monday), ABC, 12.8/19; 3. 60 Minutes , CBS, 11.4/17; 4. NCIS, CBS, 11.1/18; 5. Desperate Housewives , ABC, 9.9/15; 6. The Mentalist , CBS, 9.7/15; 7. Sunday Night Football -- Chicago at Minnesota, NBC, 9.6/15; 8. CSI Miami , CBS, 9.2/15; 9. Two and a Half Men , CBS, 9/13; 10. Criminal Minds, CBS, 8.6/15.

03/12/2008