• by Wayne Friedman , February 6, 2006

True to form and without much surprise, the first night of the February sweeps began and ended with CBS in top form.

CBS premiered the new "Survivor: Exile Island" to another strong Nielsen Media Research outing, which yielded preliminary numbers of 7.0/18 among adult viewers 18-49 and 19.3 million viewers overall. CBS kept the pressure on at 9 p.m. with "CSI," the most viewed show of the night, pulling down a 9.6/23 in viewers 18-49 and 28.3 million viewers. "Without a Trace" completed the sweep with its 6.6/17 numbers among 18-49 viewers--easily outdistancing NBC's "ER," which earned a 5.9/15. CBS ended the night in first place, with a 7.7/19 in 18-49 and 22.7 million viewers.

The only interesting story of the evening was with ABC's "Dancing With The Stars," in its first attempt against the big CBS lineup. It pulled in a solid, but not lightfooted, 4.9/12 among adult 18-49 viewers, earning 18.8 million overall viewers. The 90-minute "Dancing" toughed out a hard night against the still strong "Survivor," only falling a bit from the previous week. ABC came in third overall with a 3.6/9 among adult 18-49 viewers.

NBC ran a distant second to CBS, with a 4.6/12 in adults 18-49 for the evening. "My Name is Earl" with a 5.0/12 in viewers 18-49 and "The Office" with a 4.8/11 in viewers 18-49 were the main attractions during the 9 p.m. hour. NBC's other sitcoms were less viewed: "Will & Grace" grabbed a slim 3.0/8 in 18-49; "Four Kings" was a little below that at a 2.9/7 in 18-49.

Fox pulled up in fourth place overall, with a 2.6/7 for the evening. "That '70s Show" had a 2.7/7 in 18-49, and "The OC" posted a 2.5/6 in 18-49.