Overnights
CBS takes the last Thursday of sweeps
By Toni Fitzgterald
Nov 21, 2008 - 11:41:40 AM

CBS has dominated Thursdays in sweeps, just as it has dominated the night for the past two months. The network took its seventh straight Thursday victory last night among adults 18-49, wrapping up a sweeps sweep of the evening.

CBS averaged a 3.9 18-49 rating and 10 share, according to Nielsen overnights, just ahead of ABC’s 3.7/10. NBC placed a not-too-distant third at 3.3/9.

As usual, it was the steadiness of CBS’s schedule that boosted it to victory. It won the 8 p.m. hour with “Survivor” and placed second the next two hours.

ABC had the night’s top show with “Grey’s Anatomy” at 9 p.m. averaging a 6.1 rating, but its lead-in and lead-out were well below, with “Ugly Betty” and “Life on Mars” mustering a mere 2.5 apiece.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Twenty-eight percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

For the night, Fox placed fourth at 1.9/5, followed by the CW at 1.8/5 and Univision at 1.5/4.

CBS’s “Survivor” was, as usual, tops at 8 p.m. with a 4.0 average. ABC’s “Ugly” and NBC’s “My Name is Earl” (2.6) and “Kath & Kim” (2.3) tied for second at a 2.5 average, followed by Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares” at 2.0, CW’s “Smallville” at 1.9 and Univision’s “Cuidado con el Angel” at 1.6.

At 9 p.m., ABC’s “Grey’s” edged ahead with a 6.1, with CBS’s “CSI” second at 4.9. NBC’s “The Office” (4.3) and “30 Rock” (3.5) combined for a 3.9, with Fox’s “Nightmares” and Univision’s “Fuego en la Sangre” tied for fourth at 1.8 and the CW’s “Supernatural” sixth at 1.6.

At 10 p.m., NBC nudged into the lead with a 3.5 for “ER,” followed by CBS’s “Eleventh Hour” at 2.8, ABC’s “Mars” at 2.5 and Univision’s “Rosa de Guadalupe” at 1.8.

Among households CBS also won its seventh straight week, averaging an 8.6/14. ABC was second at 6.9/11, followed by NBC at 4.8/8, Fox at 2.8/4, CW at 2.7/4 and Univision at 2.1/3.