• by Paul Gough , March 19, 2003

Led by strong Friends and ER ratings plus a record Fear Factor, NBC pulled ahead of Fox in the adults 18-49 demographic. CBS won another week in total viewers and households, though not by much.

NBC’s 4.7/13, 6.1 million viewers edged Fox’s 4.5/12, 5.8 million viewers, although Fox showed strength on two top-10 hits in American Idol last week. CBS (3.7/10, 4.7 million viewers) and ABC (2.8/8, 3.7 million viewers) were further behind, as were The WB (1.4/4, 1.8 million viewers) and UPN (1/3, 1.3 million viewers). NBC claimed victory as well in adults 25-54, men 25-54 and adult-female demographics. The network said Boomtown won its Sunday time slot and Law & Order won Wednesday’s time slot even though it was the only repeat.

Season-to-date in adults 18-49, NBC is ahead of the rest of the networks by nearly a half-rating point: NBC (4.6/12, 5.9 million); Fox, 4.2/11, 5.4 million; ABC, 4/11, 5.1 million; CBS, 4/11, 5.1 million; The WB, 1.8/5, 2.4 million; and UPN 1.4/4, 2 million. In adults 25-54, the results were: NBC, 5.4/13, 6.5 million viewers; CBS, 4.7/11, 5.6 million viewers; Fox, 4.5/11, 5.5 million viewers; ABC, 3.2/8, 3.8 million; The WB, 1.3/3, 1.6 million; and UPN, 1.0/2, 1.3 million.

In total households and viewers, CBS came out on top. In households, CBS’s 8.2/13 surpassed NBC’s 7.9/13, Fox’s 6.2/10, ABC’s 4.9/8, The WB’s 2.1/3 and UPN’s 0.7/1. In total viewers: CBS 4.6/12, 12.4 million; NBC, 4.4/11, 11.9 million; Fox, 3.7/9, 10 million; ABC, 2.9/7, 7.8 million; The WB, 1.1/3, 3.1 million; and UPN, 0.9/2, 2.6 million.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the top 10 primetime programs for the week ended Sunday:

1. CSI (CBS), 17.4/26.
2. ER (NBC), 13.7/23.
3. Friends (NBC), 13.5/21.
4. American Idol – Tuesday (Fox), 13.3/21.
5. CSI: Miami (CBS), 12.9/21.
6. Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS), 12.4/18.
7. Survivor: Amazon (CBS), 12.4/19.
8. Law and Order: SVU (NBC), 11.5/20.
9. American Idol – Wednesday (Fox), 10.7/17.
10. Law and Order (NBC), 10.4/17.