• by December 28, 2001

CBS turned less of its schedule over to reruns during the week before Christmas and was rewarded with an easy prime-time ratings victory, according to Nielsen Media Research.

New episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" were the only two programs with more than 20 million viewers.

ABC, which had two prime-time NFL games, won among the 18-to-49-year-old age demographic craved by advertisers for the first time this season.

The holidays weren't too kind to singer Mariah Carey. Her CBS television special, "A Home for the Holidays," finished a dismal 75th place in the ratings, adding to a bad year for the singer.

For the week, CBS averaged 11.9 million viewers in prime-time (8.0 rating, 14 share), ABC had 10.6 million (6.8, 12), NBC had 8.7 million (5.9, 10), Fox had 6.6 million (4.1, 7), UPN had 3.9 million (2.4, 4), the WB had 3.5 million (2.3, 4) and Pax TV had 1.2 million (0.9, 1).

In the evening news ratings race, NBC's "Nightly News" won with an average audience of 11.2 million (7.9 rating, 16 share). ABC's "World News Tonight" had 10 million (7.2, 14) and the "CBS Evening News" had 9.2 million (6.7, 13).

A ratings point represents 1,055,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 105.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Dec. 17-23, the top 10 shows, their networks and ratings were "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 15.0; "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 14.2; NFL Monday Night Football: St. Louis at New Orleans, ABC, 12.9; "Yes, Dear," CBS, 11.6; "Survivor," CBS, 11.3; "King of Queens," CBS, 10.8; "Law and Order," NBC, 10.8; "NFL Monday Showcase," ABC, 10.2; "Judging Amy," CBS, 9.9; "Friends," NBC, 9.8.

-- The Associated Press