CBS powers to weekly win with regular series

NEW YORK — CBS flexed its strength in scripted series to sail to the top of the weekly television standings.

Of the 11 most popular dramas or comedies in prime-time last week, 10 were CBS shows, the Nielsen Co. said. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" was the lone exception.

"NCIS," as it usually has been, was the week's most-watched show.

ABC hung tough as "Dancing With the Stars" headed toward the end of another competition. The show finished second in the ratings last week, even though its generally lackluster crop of dancers has kept ratings down for the show this season.

The "American Music Awards" grew its audience for the third consecutive year and finished among Nielsen's top 10. The show's audience of 14.2 million was 2 million more than watched last year.

For the week, CBS averaged 11.6 million viewers (7.3 rating, 12 share), and ABC had 10 million (6.3, 10). Both networks finished in a virtual dead heat for last week's win among the coveted 18-to-49-year-old viewers. NBC averaged 7.5 million viewers (4.7, 8), Fox had 6.3 million (3.8, 6), the CW had 2.3 million (1.6, 2), and ION Television had 860,000 (0.6, 1).

NBC's "Nightly News" topped the newscasts with an average of 9 million viewers (6, 11). ABC's "World News" was second with 8.2 million (5.5, 10); the "CBS Evening News" had 6.1 million viewers (4.1, 8).

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with a 3.7 million-viewer average in prime-time (1.9 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 1.1 million (0.5, 1), TeleFutura had 900,000 (0.4, 1), and Azteca had 260,000 (0.2, 0).

A ratings point represents 1,149,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.9 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

The top 20

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Co. for Nov. 16-22. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.

1. "NCIS," CBS, 20.34 million.

2. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 18.84 million.

3. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Chicago, NBC, 17.33 million.

4. "Dancing With the Stars Results," ABC, 16.02 million.

5. "60 Minutes," CBS, 15.98 million.

6. "The Mentalist," CBS, 15.85 million.

7. "CSI," CBS, 14.91 million.

8. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 14.87 million.

9. "American Music Awards," ABC, 14.24 million.

10. "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 14.07 million.

11. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 13.7 million.

12. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.69 million.

13. "CSI: NY," CBS, 13.62 million.

14. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 13.26 million.

15. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 13.23 million.

16. "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 12.74 million.

17. "The Good Wife," CBS, 12.7 million.

18. "House," Fox, 12.67 million.

19. "Survivor," CBS, 12.33 million.

20. "Amazing Race," CBS, 12.19 million.

— Associated Press