• by Wayne Friedman , February 19, 2007

Closing in on the final weeks of the sweeps period, both ABC and CBS are looking to Thursday nights to keep pace with Fox. They didn't disappoint.

At 9 p.m.--in the key match-up of the evening--ABC's rock-solid "Grey's Anatomy" delivered another strong Nielsen 10.8 rating/25 share among 18-49 viewers, keeping its big lead over CBS' still-strong "CSI," which came in with a 7.3/17 rating.

Early in the evening, CBS continued to post its new "Survivor: Fiji" to a healthy 5.6/15 in 18-49--which was about the same as its week-earlier premiere averages.

ABC again placed second, with a steady "Ugly Betty" doing a 4.5/12 in 18-49. NBC followed close behind, also competitive with "My Name Is Earl" at a 3.9/11 and "The Office" with a 4.4/11.

At 10 p.m. the competition was fierce. CBS' "Shark" moved to within a 0.4 rating point of NBC's "ER," posting a 4.4/12. "ER" still took the win in the time slot at a 4.8/13. Also continuing its upward trend was ABC's "Men in Trees" with another good performance, a 4.0/11.

For Fox, Thursday night continued to be a thorn in its side. With one week left for the network's young-skewing "The O.C." series, viewers have said goodbye. The show only garnered a 1.6/4 rating at 9 p.m.

For the night, ABC turned in a 6.5/16; CBS was next with a 5.8/15; NBC was third at 3.9/10; and Fox a distant fourth, at 1.9/5. CW and Univision tied with a 1.7/4.