Reality dominates the ratings

NEW YORK — Fun and games dominated the television landscape during a week that many of the scripted series were airing reruns.

The four most popular programs were reality shows, led by two editions of Fox's "American Idol." With 26.7 million viewers, the show had its largest audience ever last week for a Tuesday broadcast, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Two Mark Burnett productions, CBS's "Survivor: All Stars" and NBC's "The Apprentice," came next.

After the games, the most-watched program offered a more sober form of reality. CBS's "60 Minutes," featuring an interview with former terrorism adviser Richard A. Clarke, was seen by 16.2 million people. That's 1.3 million more than the average "60 Minutes" telecast this season.

Elsewhere, struggling ABC had more bad news. "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital," after a strong start, has fallen flat in the ratings and was seen by only 7.1 million viewers last week.

Still, that's better than the premiere of another ABC drama, "The D.A.," which had 6.9 million viewers Friday.

The new CBS comedy, "The Stones," also had a lackluster premiere, seen by 7.1 million viewers.

CBS won the week, averaging 11 million viewers (7.2 rating, 12 share). NBC had 10.6 million (7.1, 12) and Fox had 10.3 million (6.3, 10), but won among the coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic. ABC had 8.4 million viewers (5.5, 9), UPN 3.4 million (2.3, 4), the WB 3.1 million (2.1, 3) and Pax TV 1 million (0.7, 1).

A ratings point represents 1,084,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 108.4 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of March 15-21, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: (1) "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 26.7 million; (2) "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 22.9 million; (3) "Survivor: All Stars," CBS, 19 million; (4) "The Apprentice," NBC, 17.5 million; (5) "60 Minutes," CBS, 16.2 million; (6) "Friends," NBC, 15.3 million; (7) "Will & Grace," NBC, 15 million; (8) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 15 million; (9) "Fear Factor," NBC, 14.5 million; (10) "Cold Case," CBS, 14.4 million.

Comments