ABC edged closer to an outright November sweeps victory among adults 18-49 by snatching Tuesday night away from usual victor Fox last night thanks to the “Dancing with the Stars” season finale.

ABC averaged a 4.5 18-49 rating and 12 share, according to Nielsen overnights, just a tick ahead of Fox at 4.4/12. It’s the first time this season that Fox has not finished first on a Tuesday with non-political programming.

The “Stars” finale was the night’s highest-rated show, averaging a 5.1 from 9 to 11 p.m., just ahead of “House’s” 5.0 at 8 p.m.

Still, “Stars” was off 20 percent from the 6.4 overnight last year’s fall finale averaged. Among total viewers, Brooke Burke's victory over Warren Sapp attracted 20.6 million, off 17 percent from 24.9 million last year.

Despite the declines, that was more than enough to preserve ABC’s sweeps lead with one night to go. Going into the night the network was 0.1 ahead of CBS, which finished a distant third last night at 3.2/9.

NBC placed fourth for the night at 2.8/7, Univision fifth at 1.6/4 and CW sixth at 0.4/1.

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.

Also, due to irregular running times, program averages for Fox are approximate. House aired from 8:00-9:08p, and Fringe aired from 9:08-10:07p.
 
Fox started the night in the lead with a 5.0 at 8 p.m. for “House,” followed by CBS with a 3.6 for “NCIS.” ABC was third with a 3.4 for “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” NBC fourth with a 2.3 for “The Biggest Loser,” Univision fifth with a 1.7 for “Cuidado con el Angel” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for the first half of the movie “How to Deal.”
 
At 9 p.m. ABC took the lead with a 4.6 for “Stars,” while Fox slid to second with a 3.8 for “Fringe.” CBS was third with a 3.6 for “The Mentalist,” NBC fourth with a 2.8 for more “Loser,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Fuego en la Sangre” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for the second half of its movie.
 
ABC led again at 10 p.m. with a 5.6 for the second half of “Stars,” with NBC second with a series-low 3.2 for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” CBS was third with a 2.5 for “Without a Trace” and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Aqui y Ahora.”
 
Among households, ABC was first for the night with a 10.7 average overnight rating and a 17 share. CBS was second at 9.2/14, Fox third at 6.3/10, NBC fourth at 4.6/7, Univision fifth at 2.1/3 and CW sixth at 0.7/1.