Overnights
ABC holds its Thursday sweeps lead
By Toni Fitzgerald
May 2, 2008 - 11:33:49 AM

ABC held its Thursday lead for the second straight week, though it was down from last week, when it debuted a new-look lineup with “Lost” taking over the 10 p.m. slot.

The network finished first last night with an average 4.4 adults 18-49 rating and 12 share, according to Nielsen overnights, just ahead of No. 2 CBS’s 4.1/11.

But while the network had the night’s top-ranked show with “Grey’s Anatomy” at a 6.0, it saw all three of its shows decline week to week. “Grey’s” slipped 5 percent from last week, its first week back from the writers’ strike.

Interestingly, CBS timeslot competitor “CSI” was up 9 percent from the previous week, from a series-low 4.6 to a 5.0, suggesting some of last week’s “Grey’s” viewers may have switched channels.

At 8 p.m. ABC’s “Ugly Betty” was down a tick from last week to a 2.4, though CBS’s competing “Survivor” also slipped, from a 4.2 to a 4.0. NBC’s “My Name is Earl” and “Scrubs” may have benefited; they were up a collective 17 percent from last week, from 2.4 to 2.8.

At 10 p.m., while ABC’s “Lost” remained the hour’s dominant show, it had the night’s biggest week-to-week decline, falling 13 percent from a 5.5 overnight last week to a 4.8.

ABC has now won the first two Thursdays of May sweeps.

Meanwhile, NBC placed third for the night at 3.0/8, Fox fourth at 2.3/6, Univision fifth at 1.7/5 and CW sixth at 1.3/3.
 
At 8 p.m. CBS was first with a 4.0 for “Survivor,” while NBC took second with a 2.8 for “Earl” (2.8) and “Scrubs” (2.9). ABC was third with a 2.4 for “Ugly Betty,” Fox fourth with a 2.2 for “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Al Diablo con los Guapos” and CW sixth with a 1.5 for “Smallville.”
 
ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 6.0 for “Grey’s,” followed by CBS with a 5.0 for “CSI.” NBC was third with a 3.3 for “The Office” (3.9) and “30 Rock” (2.6), Fox fourth with a 2.5 for “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” Univision fifth with a 2.1 for “Fuego en la Sangre” and CW sixth with a 1.0 for “Supernatural.”
 
At 10 p.m. ABC led again with a 4.8 for “Lost,” with CBS second with a 3.3 for “Without a Trace.” NBC was third with a 3.0 for “ER” and Univision fourth with a 1.1 for “Amas de Casa Desperadas.”
 
Among households, CBS led the night with a 9.1 average overnight rating and a 15 share. ABC was second at 7.6/12, Fox third at 5.0/8, NBC fourth at 4.4/7, CW fifth at 2.0/3 and Univision fifth at 1.9/3.