• by Wayne Friedman , April 23, 2010

On a sleepy Thursday before the big May sweeps period, many networks' shows hit lows -- and ESPN factored big-time into the equation.

With its first live prime-time showing of the NFL draft, ESPN grabbed a big 7.7 million viewers during 8 p.m to 11 p.m., easily its best results in the 31 years it has been showing the selection of college footballers by NFL pro teams.

Nielsen results have put ESPN in second place behind CBS (13.3 million viewers) and ahead of Fox (7.4 million viewers on the night) for the three-hour head-to-head prime-time period.

For the entire NFL draft program, which ran from 7:30 p.m. to 11:20 p.m., ESPN pulled in 7.3 million viewers.

ESPN also won the night among all key male demos, as well as adults 18-34 and adults 18-49. But it didn't have any final results to disclose.

Broadcast networks, however, were seeing some low results across the board. For example, CBS' "Survivor" was down 5% to a 3.6 rating/11 share; "CSI" hits its lowest-ever numbers, with a 2.8/8; and "The Mentalist" sank 14% to a 3.0 rating/9 share.

NBC wasn't spared: "Community" dropped 20% to a 1.6/5; "30 Rock" slipped 14% for its regular 9:30 p.m. time slot to a 2.5/7, and "The Marriage Ref" suffered a 10% fall to a 1.9/5.

ABC gave "Grey's Anatomy" the night off, running a repeat at 10 p.m. "Private Practive," the usual Thursday 10 p.m. program, went at 9 p.m. -- but didn't gain any traction, dropping 12% to a 2.3/6.

The CW managed to find some better news for "Vampire Diairies" and "Supernatural," as both were a bit higher in women 18-34 numbers, that network's key measuring yardstick. Both were up one-tenth of a rating point to 2.4 for "Diaries" and 1.5 for "Supernatural."

Among 18-49 viewers for the broadcast networks, CBS was tops with a 3.1/9, followed by Fox at a 2.3/7, NBC at a 2.2/6; ABC at a 1.7/5, and CW, with a 1.5/4.