• by January 16, 2002

The finale of Survivor failed to match up to previous finales, but it won the week for CBS. The show ranked first in this week's Nielsens, with a 23 share and a 10.1 household rating. It drew an average audience of 27.3 million. This compares with audiences of 51.7 million and 36.4 million for the finales of Survivor and Survivor 2.

The audience grew during the final half hour to 31 million, but actually trailed Friends earlier in the evening.

Everybody Loves Raymond and 60 Minutes also ranked high, helping CBS win the week. 60 Minutes posted its highest rating in nearly two years.

NBC came in second with Friends and E.R. ranked two and three with 22 and 24 shares and household ratings of 9.5 and 9.4 and audiences of over 25 million.

ABC had only one bright spot -- the Jets/Raiders playoff game, which ranked fifth with a 22 share, 8.2 household rating and 22 million viewers. A Monday Night Football game ranked ninth.

Survivor's win this week comes after it had been criticized all season for lower numbers.

Other top 10 shows were Law and Order (NBC), Survivor Reunion (CBS) and Will and Grace (NBC).

Football was the big winner on cable for the most recently reported week (Dec. 31 to Jan. 6), with NFL regular season, the Peach Bowl and NFL Prime Time winning for ESPN. The other top cable show was The Mummy (TNT). NFL regular season won, with a 5.0 household rating. The Mummy was second with 4.1.

The most recent syndicated winners were Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Friends, Judge Judy and Seinfeld.