• by Wayne Friedman , May 21, 2013

Just two days before the finish of the TV season, CBS claims a major victory among 18-49 viewers in the broader metric that TV networks now use to analyze and promote -- seven days of TV program viewing.

CBS is poised to finish the season at a Nielsen 2.9 rating/8 share among 18-49 viewers when looking at live program plus seven days of time-shifted viewing (L7), down around 3% from a year ago. This is CBS' first victory in the key ad-watching demographic in more than a decade.

Fox is at 2.5/7, off 22% from a year ago. NBC is at 2.4/7, down 4%. ABC is in fourth place among the big broadcast networks with a 2.2/6, losing 8% from a year ago. The CW is at 0.7/2, slipping 12%.

Overall, the collective five networks' 18-49 ratings in the L7 metric are off 11% to a 10.7 gross rating. Gross share is down 9% to a 30 share.

CBS continues to easily lead off as top network when it comes to overall viewers -- at 11.86 million, slightly up from 11.85 million a year ago. ABC is next at 7.9 million -- off 7% from 8.4 million -- while Fox is at 7.1 million, down a big 21% from 8.9 million. NBC, at 7.0 million, gives back 6% from 7.4 million a year ago.

While CW loses in some key viewing demographics, it has actually gained 3% in overall viewers to 1.78 million from 1.74 million. It has made slight gains among men 18-49 and men 25-54 viewers.

CBS has also maintained its winning ways among older viewers -- at a 3.8/10, down 5%. Fox is next with a 2.9/7, losing 22%, followed by NBC and ABC tied with a 2.8/7 -- off 7% and 10%, respectively.

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