• by Wayne Friedman , October 13, 2009

 

CBS regained the top spot from Fox for Monday night -- but just barely.

In preliminary Nielsen results, CBS earned a 4.0 rating/10 share among 18-49 viewers -- up one-tenth of a rating point versus Monday a week ago. Fox slipped three-tenths of a rating point week-to-week, coming in second place at a 3.9/10.

CBS continues to be strong with its sitcoms -- especially its "Big Bang Theory" at 9:30 p.m. -- which, over the last several weeks, has become its best-rated comedy. On Monday, it earned a 4.8/12, just a bit above its mark of a week ago. "Two and a Half Men" also improved, rising to a 4.6/11 from a 4.4/10.

Fox's "House" slipped to a 5.0/13 from a 5.4/13 the week before. "Lie To Me" also drifted lower, to a 2.8/7 from a 3.1/7.

ABC stayed virtually where it was a week ago. Among 18-49 viewers, it had the same 3.1/8 rating versus a week ago. ABC was at 14.3 million total viewers, up from 14.1 million the week before.

"Dancing with the Stars" moved down a bit to a 3.3/8, good for third place in the 8 p.m. time period. The show did better at 9 p.m., growing to a 3.7/9. "Castle" improved a bit to a 2.4/6 at 10 p.m., from a 2.2/6 the week before.

Like ABC, NBC pretty much stayed at the same levels week-to-week. NBC averaged a 1.9/5 for the night. "Heroes" (a 2.4/6), "Trauma" (a 1.7/4), and "Jay Leno" (1.5/4), posted nearly identical numbers versus the week before.

CW witnessed some modest gains. "One Tree Hill" and "Gossip Girl" grew in total viewers to a 2.62 million and 2.51 million -- up from 2.1 million and 2.1 million, respectively. CW earned a 1.2/3 average among 18-49 viewers, a little better than its 1.1/3 the week before.

Among its more core viewers, "One Tree Hill" was up 17% with women 18-34 to a 2.1/6, while "Gossip Girl" improved 6% in women 18-49 to a 1.8/4.