CBS holds onto its ratings lead in prime time

CBS holds onto its ratings lead in prime time; TNT most popular cable network last week

Frazier Moore, AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- With broadcast networks unveiling their new schedules, the television industry is focused on potential ratings hits next season.

But TV programming remained largely status quo last week with CBS maintaining its decisive lead, Nielsen Co. figures showed Tuesday.

CBS' decade-old smash, "NCIS," held onto the No. 1 position, drawing more than 17 million viewers. Right behind was the network's sitcom hit, "The Big Bang Theory," seen by 16 million viewers, followed by spinoff "NCIS: Los Angeles," with 13 million viewers.

Overall, CBS easily won the week in prime time, averaging 9.4 million viewers and claiming a dozen of the Top 20 shows.

Runner-up ABC had 7.2 million viewers, while NBC had 5.7 million, Fox had 5.4 million, Univision had 3.3 million, Telemundo had 1.6 million, the CW had 1.3 million and ION Television had 1.1 million.

TNT was the week's most popular cable network, averaging 3.1 million viewers in prime time. USA had 2.2 million, the Disney Channel had 2.3 million, Fox News Channel had 2.0 million and History had 1.7 million.

NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average 8.2 million viewers. ABC's "World News" was second with 7.5 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.4 million viewers.

For the week of May 6-12, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "NCIS," CBS, 17.56 million; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 16.30 million; "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 13.18 million; "Person of Interest," CBS, 12.96 million; "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 13.12 million; "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 12.12 million; "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 12.15 million; "American Idol" (Thursday), Fox, 11.57 million; "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 11.35 million; "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 11.11 million.

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ABC and The Disney Channel are owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. NBC, USA and Telemundo are owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal. Fox and Fox News Channel are owned by News Corp. The CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TNT is owned by Time Warner Inc. History is owned by the A&E Television Networks.

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Online:

http://www.nielsen.com .