ABC - ABC WINS FINAL WEEK OF SUMMER SEASON

ABC WINS FINAL WEEK OF SUMMER SEASON

ABC, struggling to recapture past glory, was able to claim victory over its rivals last week, the prelude week to the fall season, thanks mainly to Dancing With the Stars, the top-rated show of the week. The show even topped NBC's Sunday Night Football and the season debut of CBS's Survivor, as the "performance" episode drew 20.2 million viewers. (The "results" episode -- which saw TV commentator Tucker Carlson kicked off -- tallied 16.3 million.) Since it carried no advertising, ABC's concluding episode of the controversial miniseries The Path to 9/11, which aired on Monday, was not included in the results. It would have placed 10th on the Nielsen list. But Washington Post TV writer Lisa de Moraes included it on her list of the week's winners nonetheless, noting that it doubled ABC's Monday-night audience for the summer and commenting, "You can't put a price tag on the delivery of more than 10 million viewers ... to those with whom a network wants to curry political favor." In the end, ABC narrowly won the week with an average 6.2 rating and an 11 share. CBS was close behind with a 6.0/10. NBC placed third with a 5.3/9, while Fox trailed with a 4.6/8.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research:
1. Dancing With The Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 13.3/21; 2. Sunday Night Football, NBC, 11.9/19; 3. Dancing With the Stars (Wednesday), ABC, 11.2/18; 4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (9:00 p.m. Thursday), CBS, 10.1/16; 4. Survivor: Cook Island, CBS, 10.1/17; 6. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (10:00 p.m. Thursday), CBS, 9.9/17; 7. House, Fox, 9.4/15; 8. NFL Post Game (Saturday), CBS, 9.0/17; 9. 60 Minutes, CBS, 8.8/15; 10. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kickoff, NBC, 7.8/13.

20/09/2006