• by Paul Gough , May 20, 2003

In the final full week of the broadcast television season, NBC edged out another win in adults 18-49 to beat Fox as CBS took another week in total households.

NBC (4.7/13, 6 million) came in first in the demographic for the week of May 12-18 according to Nielsen Media Research, just ahead of Fox (4.6/13, 5.8 million). CBS (3.5/10, 4.5 million) and ABC (3.5/10, 4.4 million) came in third with a virtual tie, followed by The WB (2/6, 2.5 million), UPN (1.5/4, 1.9 million) and Pax (0.2/1, 260,000).

In total households, CBS (8.5/14, 9 million) came in first, ahead of second-place NBC (8.1/14, 8.6 million) and third-place Fox (6.4/11, 6.8 million). ABC (5.8/10, 6.1 million) came in fourth, followed by The WB (2.8/5, 3 million), UPN (2.2/4, 2.3 million) and Pax (0.7/1, 760,000). CBS leads season-to-date by more than a half-rating point.

The second-to-last season finale of Friends came in first in the Nielsen's ranking of prime households and persons, followed by perennial leader CSI, an episode of American Idol, ER and the Tuesday edition of American Idol. The top 10 programs for the week ended Sunday:

1. Friends (NBC), 16/26, 17 million households.

2. CSI (CBS), 15.4/24, 16.4 million households.

3. American Idol - Wednesday (Fox), 14.7/23, 15.7 million households.

4. ER (NBC), 14.3/23, 15.2 million households.

5. American Idol - Tuesday (Fox), 14.1/23, 15 million households.

6. Will & Grace (NBC), 13.1/20, 13.9 million households.

7. Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS), 12.4/19, 13.2 million households.

8. Law & Order (NBC), 12.2/20, 13 million households.

9. CSI: Miami (CBS), 11.6/19, 12.3 million households.

10. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC), 11/18, 11.7 million households.