• TV Week, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9:33 AM

While many in the industry have been wringing their hands over the death of the sitcom, CBS has asserted its dominance over the genre. From both a cultural and commercial perspective, no other network -- including former comedy champ NBC -- comes close to matching CBS's Monday night lineup of laughs.

It's an achievement for CBS to have hit shows in a genre that advertisers of all stripes covet. Plus, comedies have been the genre best able to generate back-end revenue from syndication.

CBS has four of the five most-watched live-action comedies, with "How I Met Your Mother" and "Big Bang Theory" ranking No. 3 and No. 5. Among adults 18-49, the network has five of the top 10 half-hours. With all the talk of network audience erosion, the CBS Monday comedy block has gained 14% in overall viewership and its adults 18-49 numbers have increased by 11%.

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