• by Wayne Friedman , October 27, 2006

ABC pulled another solid Wednesday victory, although having Fox's World Series game rained out probably helped.

ABC's Wednesday shows "Dancing with the Stars" and "Lost" turned in their usual solid performances. But "The Nine," the network's 10 p.m. show, continued to drift lower--now at a Nielsen Media Research 2.9 rating/8 share, its lowest numbers to date. This means the show lost nearly 60% of viewers for "Lost"--ABC's big 9 p.m. show, which found a 7.1/17 rating. Earlier in the evening, "Dancing With The Stars" earned its now-typical strong numbers, a 5.1/14--easily dominating the 8 p.m. competition.

From 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., CBS found its usual solid second place for the evening, with "Jericho" at 3.2/9 and "Criminal Minds" at 4.4/11. At 10 p.m., CBS moved into the lead with "CSI: NY," a 5.6/15 in 18-49 viewers.

NBC's early evening comedies, "30 Rock" and "Twenty Good Years," drifted lower again--a 2.2/6 for "Rock" and a 2.0/5 for "Years." Some consolation: It earned its best seasonal numbers for "The Biggest Loser"--a 3.4/8--and "Dateline," a 3.3/9.

Fox World Series' numbers have picked up momentum with some decent four- to five-ratings-point performances among 18-49 viewers. But the rainout meant Fox put in four repeats of "The War at Home." The network earned a 2/6 for its efforts, resting in fifth place--the bottom of all English-language broadcast networks.

The CW saw improvement. "America's Next Top Model" continued to climb, now at a 2.7/8 in 18-49. Its 9 p.m. show, "One Tree Hill," also did better, with a 1.6/4 in 18-49. In its more important 18-34 demo--its main selling tool for advertisers--the network was in second place from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., behind ABC with a 2.7/8.

Overall, Wednesday average ratings in 18-49 were: ABC, 5.1/13; CBS, 4.4/11; NBC, 2.9/8; CW, 2.2/6; Fox, 2/6; Univision, 1.7/5.