• by Wayne Friedman , January 23, 2009

In mid-January, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" took over where it left off when it ran original shows against new episodes of CBS' "CSI"--beating it among 18-49 viewers.

Lower "CSI" ratings after the departure of William Petersen's character last week were probably expected. Last week, the show grabbed a hefty 6.2/15 against "Grey's" 5.3/12. This week, "CSI" earned a Nielsen Preliminary 5.0 rating/12 share, about half a rating point behind "Grey's" 5.6/14.

Better news for ABC comes at 10 p.m. In its recently new time period, "Private Practice"--which took in a 3.6/10 rating--bested everyone in that late network hour. Overall, ABC took the night with a 3.9/10 against CBS' 3.4/9.

Fox's new move in placing "Bones" at 8 p.m. did wonders--giving the show a 3.0/8 win in the time period, tops among all comers. That said, it was running against a repeat of "CSI" (and not "Survivor") and against typically lower-rated competitors: ABC's "Ugly Betty" (a 2.4/7) and NBC's "My Name is Earl (a 2.6/8).

But at 9 p.m., another episode of "Bones" could only muster a 2.5/6-- well behind the two big 9 p.m. shows, "CSI" and "Grey," as well as two ratings points below NBC's "The Office," which earned a strong 4.6/11.

Now that the election has come and gone and the spin from Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impersonations is over, Fey's "30 Rock" took in a steady--but not outstanding--3.2/8 at 9:30 p.m. As such, NBC managed a third-place spot on the night with a 3.2/8. Fox followed with a 2.7/7.

CW's "Smallville" at 8 p.m. was steady with a 1.6/4 among 18-49 viewers, and a 1.4/4 among the 18-34 crowd. "Supernatural" earned comparable numbers--a 1.3/3 among 18-49 viewers and the same against 18-34 viewers.

Univision earned a 1.7/4 on the night for 18-49 viewers, while CW averaged a 1.4/4.