• by Paul Gough , January 22, 2003

Two special programs – football and an awards ceremony – dominated the latest Nielsen Media Research ratings list along with perennial winners CSI, Friends and E.R.

For the week ended Sunday, CBS led in total viewers and households with a double-digit rating of 10.6 and a 17 share. NBC followed with a 9.1 rating and a 14 share, and ABC came in third with a 6 rating and a 10 share. Fox, energized by an almost top-10 episode of Joe Millionaire, came in fourth with a 5 rating and an 8 share. Following were The WB (2.6/4), UPN (2/3) and Pax (0.8/1). The ratings were delayed a day because of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Nielsen Media Research said Wednesday.

Among adults 18-49, CBS retained the lead (5.7/14) for the week but in a slimmer margin against NBC (5.4/14). Nearly tied were Fox (3.7/9) and ABC (3.5/9). The WB came in with a 1.9/5, UPN a 1.2/3 and Pax a 0.3/1.

The week’s top-rated program was the AFC Championship between the Tennessee Titans and the Oakland Raiders, which averaged 41 million viewers to give it a 24.6 rating and 38 total household share. CBS said it delivered a 16.5/38 in adults 18-49, 18.1/39 in adults 25-54, 19/4/48 in men 18-34 and a 21.7/48 in men 18-49. The postgame show, at 10:24 p.m. Sunday night, was in fourth place with a 13.2/20 in total households.

The AFC Championship Game is the season’s highest-rated and most-watched program of the season to date, though that record will doubtless be broken by the Super Bowl on Sunday.

The other signature special for the week, the Golden Globes on Sunday night, brought NBC fifth place for the week in total households and viewers. It delivered about a 7.7 rating and 17 share among adults 18-49 and 20 million total viewers. It’s up about 80% over NBC’s season-to-date 4.2 rating among adults 18-49 in the 8-11 p.m. Sunday night time period. It also finished tops ahead of the week’s top-rated Titans-Raiders game among women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.

ABC, which expects a big week with Sunday’s Super Bowl telecast, had only one entrant in the top 10 ranking: The Bachelorette. It delivered a 10.9/16 in total households and viewers and was the night’s number-one broadcast among adults 18-49 (8.5/20). It beat an original episode of The West Wing (which was tied for 14th place for the week) by 21% in total viewers (17.4 million vs. 14.4 million) and by 73% in adults 18-49 (8.5/20 vs. 4.9/12).

Among regularly scheduled programs, CSI bested its Thursday night competition on NBC, ER, for the second week in a row. CSI won in households, viewers and key demographics, including adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. It as 3.7 million viewers ahead of Friends and 6 million viewers ahead of ER.

The top 10 programs in total households/viewers as ranked by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Jan. 13-19:

1. AFC Championship (CBS), 24.6/38.
2. CSI (CBS), 17.6/26.
3. Friends (NBC), 15.1/23.
4. ER (NBC), 14.1/23.
5. Golden Globe Awards (NBC), 13.4/20.
6. AFC Championship Post-Game (CBS), 13.2/20.
7. Law & Order (NBC), 12.9/21.
8. Without a Trace (CBS), 11.7/19.
9. Scrubs (NBC), 11.5/17.
10. The Bachelorette (ABC), 10.9/16.