• by Ken Liebeskind , April 17, 2002

CBS and NBC battled it out again, with CBS emerging as a slim winner in this week's Nielsens. CSI, Survivor and Everybody Loves Raymond were among the top five shows, with CSI number one, giving CBS a 14 share and 8 household rating, slightly better than NBC's 13/7.5 and much better than ABC's 8/5 and Fox's 7/4.2.

CSI was 20/8.2, slightly better than NBC's Law and Order, which ranked second. Other top ten shows were Friends (NBC), CBS Sunday Movie, Will & Grace (NBC), King of Queens (CBS) and 60 Minutes (CBS). CBS had six of the top ten shows.

All of the top 25 shows were CBS and NBC, except Primetime Thursday and The Practice, both ABC, which ranked 23 and 25.

The top cable shows for the most recent week were WWF Entertainment (TNN), which won the top two spots, followed by Osbournes (MTV), Real World (MTV) and Sunday Movie, The Return of Alex Kelly (LIF). WWF's highest household rating was 4.2 with 4.4 million viewers.

The top syndicated shows for the most recent week were Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Friends, Entertainment Tonight and Seinfeld. Wheel scored a 9.6 household with 10.1 million viewers.

Sports leaders for the most recent week were the NCAA basketball championship game, CBS, which scored a 24 share and 15 household. WWF Smackdown (UPN), BellSouth Classic golf (NBC) and NBA basketball (NBC) followed.

In other sports news, Tiger Woods' victory in the Masters propelled high ratings for CBS, although the last round was too late to be included in this week's Nielsen ratings. Sunday's final round scored a 9.9 overnight rating, which was 40 percent higher than final round ratings for the most recent major tournies, when Woods wasn't in contention. The average overnight for the final two rounds was 8.8, better than any other Masters, except for the others Woods won. This year's Masters rating beat the other recent majors, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the British Open, handily, again thanks to Woods.