Although down a little from a year ago, CBS still dominated the first night of the May sweeps--as its Thursday night lineup continued its season-long thrashing of the competition.
CBS posted wins in all major viewership categories; the most important was adults 18-49, in which it averaged a 6.7 rating/19 share for the night. Led by "Survivor: Panama--Exile Island," "CSI," and
"Without a Trace," CBS was also first in households with a 13.2/21; viewers, with 20.85 million; adults 18-34, a 4.6/14; and adults 25-54, 8.4/21. "CSI" was the leading show of the night among 18-49
viewers, with an 8.7 rating/22 share.
CBS was down a little from the first sweeps night in May 2005, but was still heads over other networks: NBC, 4.0/11; Fox, 2.3/6; ABC, 2.1/6; WB, 1.7/5; and
UPN, 1.0/3.
NBC actually fell farther behind CBS this May sweep. "Will & Grace" took in a 2.8/9 in viewers 18-49 and 7.5 million viewers overall; "My Name is Earl" just barely grabbed a 4.0
rating with a 4.1/11 in viewers 18-49 and 9 million viewers overall; "The Office" slipped a little behind "Earl" with a 3.8/10 in viewers 18-49 and 7.7 million viewers overall.
advertisement
advertisement
"ER" was at
5.2/14 in viewers 18-49 and 12.4 million viewers overall--more than 25 percent behind last year's numbers. This year, CBS' "Without a Trace" beat "ER" among 18-49 demos in the first night of the May
sweeps. Fox couldn't muster much for "That '70s Show"--2.2/7 in 18-49 and 4.9 million viewers overall. "The OC" was a bit better with a 2.4/6 in viewers 18-49 and 5.4 million viewers overall.
ABC seemingly has lost steam with "American Inventor"--now down from its big numbers to a 3.0/8 in viewers 18-49 and 7.2 million viewers overall. Worse still, ABC's "Commander in Chief" hit a series
low, with 1.9/5 in viewers 18-49 and 6.5 million viewers overall.