Ratings war begins

It's this year's battle of the network stars. ABC has turned Thursdays at 8 p.m. into a TV war zone by moving megahit "Grey's Anatomy" from its Sunday-night time slot to do battle with ratings juggernaut "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

"CSI" executive producer Carol Mendelsohn compared it to a football game. "It's like two really great football teams. You know, the Washington Redskins want to play the Dallas Cowboys," she said. "It's exciting."

NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly was more blunt, explaining why he beat a strategic retreat and moved "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" out of the time slot after ABC announced "Anatomy" was moving in.

"We moved it because it was a war zone," he said. "You've got to be practical. And going against two juggernauts was just not going to be a healthy environment for any new show, no matter how much we believed in it."

When it comes to network battles, none is bigger this fall than "CSI" vs. "Gray's Anatomy." Thursday nights are huge for the broadcast networks — it's a night when the movie studios spend a lot of money advertising their weekend releases. The network with the highest ratings gets the biggest share of that money.

From the mid-'80s through the early part of the 21st century, NBC dominated the night. But then CBS took a chance by putting "Survivor" on Thursdays. And then "CSI." And then "Without a Trace," which dethroned "ER" as king of the ratings hill.

CBS had become so dominant that network executives thought nothing of moving "Trace" to Sundays this fall, expecting its new series "Shark" to continue to handle "ER."

Now ABC is taking a page out of CBS's book and taking a chance with "Grey's Anatomy." And network executives can't even agree on who's the favorite in this fight.

"Who would have thought that 'CSI' would be the underdog?" asked CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler, wisely trying to spin the story before the competition begins.

"In terms of 'CSI,' I heard Nina was playing the rope-a-dope," ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson said with a smile. "It's kind of funny. I mean, 'CSI' and CBS have dominated that night, so I think they are the champions without question. And we're coming on with a strong contender and hope to do some business there."

Business being what commercial television is all about.

"Certainly, 'CSI' and 'Survivor' are incredibly strong competition," McPherson continued. "We think the cornerstone for us Thursdays is 'Grey's."'