• December 2, 2005

ABC and CBS ran a dead heat, splitting top honors for the November Sweep period in the adults 18-49 rating race--the first time this has happened since the May 2000 sweeps. Both earned a Nielsen Media Research 4.4 rating for the period, which ran from Nov. 3 through Nov. 30.

But perhaps the real victor was ABC--since that network improved its adult 18-49 viewer ratings by 10 percent versus a year ago. By comparison, CBS was down 2 percent. CBS did win in overall viewers again for November--but this metric typically means little to national advertisers. NBC tied with Fox for third place at a distant 3.3 rating. NBC was down 18 percent, while Fox was up 10 percent against a year ago. UPN took a 1.5 rating, even with last November's adults 18-49. The WB was down 13 percent to a 1.4.

--- Wayne Friedman