• by Wayne Friedman , November 7, 2005

CBS took the first day of the November sweeps by storm, and somewhat predictably.

Led by "Survivor: Guatemala" and "Without a Trace," CBS easily took the night in adults 18-49 with a 7.6 rating/19 share--the viewer group the majority of TV advertisers treasure most. CBS was also first in households (14.0/22), viewers (22.38 million), adults 25-54 (9.3/21), and adults 18-34 (5.4/15).

"Thursday night was pretty much where we left off last year," said Brad Adgate, senior vice president and corporate research director for Horizon Media, New York. "It was business as usual. CBS is in first and NBC is in second. Fox is still struggling, especially with 'Reunion'--which has been struggling now that baseball programming is over."

CBS' main programming gun, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," remains the number-one rated network show--that is, until "American Idol" makes its usual January return. "CSI" earned its usual lofty adults 18-49 numbers, a 9.9 rating/24 share. The show also finished first in households (17.7/26), viewers (28.45 million viewers), adults 25-54 (12.0/26), and adults 18-34 (7.1/19).

NBC was a distant second place with a 4.8 rating for adults 18-49. After starting off the season with its worst numbers ever--posting 4-plus ratings in adults 18-49--"The Apprentice" moved up to a 5.0/12, matching its season high. "ER" remained NBC's best show in adults 18-49--earning a 6.2/16, and narrowly losing out to CBS' "Without a Trace" (6.4/17) for the time period win.

ABC placed third with a 2.9/7 in adults 18-49 on the evening with the network running the Walt Disney movie, "The Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." ABC said the November sweeps start had its best adult 18-49 numbers in five years.

Next came Fox, with a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49. Its new show, "Reunion," lost just about half of "The O.C."'s lead in 18-49 numbers, only coming in at a 1.6 rating/4 share.

The WB did well in its key younger adult ratings thanks to big "Smallville" numbers. In the broader index of adult 18-49 viewers, the WB came in at fifth place with a 1.8 rating.

UPN also claimed good younger viewer performance--thanks to "Everybody Hates Chris." The network witnessed year-to-year gains in the 8-8:30 p.m. time period of 21 percent in adults 18-34 to 1.7/5, and 19 percent in adults 18-49 in 1.9/5. But, overall for the evening, UPN's adults 18-49 numbers put it in last place, with a 1.3 rating.