• by Wayne Friedman , March 31, 2009

A big three-way fight for the top of the network standings was the result on Monday.

Early results have Fox just edging out ABC and CBS overall -- when considering two major demos. Fox had a Nielsen preliminary 4.2 rating/11 share among 18-49 viewers, tying ABC and winning among 18-34 viewers, posting a 3.9/11.

ABC tied Fox in 18-49 viewers with a 4.2/11, but was seven-tenths of a rating point behind among 18-34 viewers at a 3.2/9. CBS was right behind ABC in both measures: it earned a 4.1/10 among 18-49 viewers and a 3.1/9 among 18-34 viewers.

The reason for the tight race was that all three networks came to play with full original schedules for the last Monday in March.

"Dancing with the Stars" at 9 p.m., had the best results, reaching a 5.4/13 among 18-49 viewers. The second best-rated show of the night -- CBS' "Two and a Half Men," which runs directly opposite "Stars" -- was almost as high, with a 5.1/12.

One hour earlier in the evening, ABC's main competitor to "Stars" was Fox's "House." But this time, ABC played second fiddle, as "House posted a 4.7/13. Still, "Stars" offered up a very strong 4.3/12. CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" was not far behind, in third place with a 3.8/11.

NBC's "Chuck" struggled to keep pace with a 2.1/6. It was just ahead of Univision's "Cuidado con el Angel," which earned a 2.0/5. "Chuck" was behind CW's "Gossip Girl," among 18-34 viewers , however-- with a 1.8/5 and a 1.5/4, respectively.

NBC did a bit better later in the evening. "Heroes" move up slightly from its results a week ago to a 3.1/7 among 18-49 viewers , from a 2.9/7 at 9 p.m. The show also had some gains among 18-34 viewers. NBC was up week-to-week overall -- a 2.6/7 from a 2.4/6.

The bigger improvement for NBC came at 10 p.m., as "Medium" rose to a 2.6/7 from a 2.2/6 the week before. "Medium" was tied for second place with ABC's new "Castle" show, which moved down one-tenth of a rating point week-to-week.

CBS' "CSI: Miami" continued to easily win the time period -- earning a 4.0/11 among 18-49 viewers, and well as a 3.0/9 among young 18-34 viewers.

CW also picked up a bit from a week ago: "Gossip Girl" climbed to a 1.3/3, from a 1.0/3 the week before. "One Tree Hill" went up one tick -- earning a 1.2/3, compared to a 1.1/3. It landed with an overall 1.2/3 among 18-49 viewers for this Monday, and a 1.7/5 among 18-34 viewers -- three-tenths of a rating point more than week ago.