Strong 'CSI: Miami' boosts CBS to No. 1 Monday
  “CSI: Miami” led CBS to a first-place finish among viewers 18-49 on Monday night, averaging an 8.0 rating in its 10 p.m. timeslot. That boosted CBS to a 6.0 average and 15 share for the evening, good for No. 1. ABC finished second at 4.8/12, NBC third at 4.6/11, Fox fourth at 2.7/7, the WB fifth at 1.8/4, and UPN sixth at 1.2/3. CBS continues to hold a large lead among adults 18-49 for the November sweeps.
   NBC started the night out in the lead as “Fear Factor” earned a 4.7 average 18-49 rating during the 8 p.m. hour. CBS was second with a 3.6 average for “Still Standing” (3.6) and “Listen Up” (3.6) and Fox was third with a 3.1 average for “Trading Spouses.” CBS led at 9 p.m. with “Everybody Loves Raymond” (6.2) and continually growing “Two and a Half Men” (6.8) combining to average a 6.5 rating. Though final ratings may change because it aired live, ABC’s “Monday Night Football” was second that hour with a 5.8 rating for a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots. NBC was third at 9 p.m. with a 5.0 average for the last half-hour of “Fear Factor” (5.5) and the first half hour of the series finale of “The $25 Million Hoax” (4.5).
   CBS led at 10 p.m. with “CSI: Miami’s” 8.0 average. “MNF” on ABC was second with a 5.6 average, while NBC was third with a 4.1 average for the last hour of “Hoax.” CBS finished first for the night among households with an 11.3 average rating and 17 share. ABC was second at 8.7/13, NBC third at 6.4/10, Fox fourth at 4.5/7, the WB third at 3.3/5, and UPN sixth at 2.1/3.

Highly rated return for 'Housewives' Sunday
   After a week off for the “American Music Awards” and a towel scandal on “Monday Night Football,” ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” returned Sunday night and was right back in the top spot with an 11.0 average 18-49 rating, higher than the competition combined. That led ABC to a dominating first-place finish for the night in the demo with a 6.8 average rating and 16 share. NBC finished second at 3.7/9, Fox third at 3.5/8, CBS fourth at 2.8/7, and the WB fifth at 1.1/3.
   Fox led during the 7 p.m. hour with the combination of NFL football runover and “Malcolm in the Middle” (3.7) averaging a 5.0 rating. ABC was second with a 3.2 average for “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and CBS third with a 2.9 average for “60 Minutes.” ABC took the lead at 8 p.m. with a 7.5 average 18-49 rating for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Fox was second with a 3.8 average for “The Simpsons” (4.5) and “Arrested Development” (3.0), while CBS was third with a 3.7 average for “Cold Case.”
   NBC was second with a 4.6 average for “Law & Order: CI” and CBS third with a 2.3 for the first hour of the movie “When We Were Grown-Ups.” ABC dipped at 10 p.m., but retained the lead with “Boston Legal” averaging a 5.3 rating. NBC was second with a 5.1 average for “Crossing Jordan” and CBS third with a 2.2 average for its movie.
   Among households, ABC finished the night on top with a 9.8 average rating and 15 share. CBS was second at 8.9/14, NBC third at 7.3/11, Fox fourth at 5.0/8, and the WB fifth at 1.6/2.

Time Warner & Cablevision settle dispute 
New York’s Time Warner Cable and Cablevision still can’t come to a price agreement, but at least the two sides haven’t blacked out viewers like they did when they couldn’t agree back in August. With the help of state attorney general Elliot Spitzer’s office, the two agreed on Jan. 20 as a deadline for reaching a final agreement. In August Time Warner pulled Fox Sports Net and the MSG network from its system for 11 days because it claimed Cablevision wanted a price increase that no longer reflected the value of MSG, since New York Mets baseball won’t be seen on the network after next year. The Mets have started their own network that cuts out the middleman, similar to the Yankees and George Steinbrenner’s YES network. The mid-August deal gave the two sides until this Wednesday to come to agreement, which obviously they weren’t able to do.

Who do you trust? Stewart over Jennings
We knew Jon Stewart was popular, but more trustworthy than Peter Jennings or Dan Rather? That’s true among voters 18-29 according to a study commissioned by Declare Yourself and conducted by Global Strategy Group and Luntz Research. When asked which anchor can be more trusted to inform on politics, NBC’s Tom Brokaw came away as No. 1, claiming 17 percent of the responses. But Comedy Central’s "Daily Show" anchor Jon Stewart was No. 2 with 16 percent of the vote, compared with 15 percent for ABC’s Jennings and 10 percent for CBS’s Rather. However most people, to the tune of 26 percent, chose “none of the above.” The poll also gauged whom voters 18-29 chose on Election Day earlier this month, showing 62 percent voted for Sen. John Kerry while only 35 percent voted for President Bush. Declare Yourself is a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative designed to generate young voter interest.

Study: Most shows set on one coast or other
The East Coast/West Coast phenomenon extends beyond rap music. A new study from Carat finds that California and New York state are settings for fictional television shows about 60 percent of the time, despite the fact that only 19 percent of the country’s population lives there. One theory is that most television writers, producers and executives live in one of the two states, so they write about what they know. Substantial landmarks and large populations with diverse cultures and ethnicities are also important when filming shows. The study found that of 1,696 cable and broadcast shows dating back to 1948, 601 were set in California and 412 in New York. Chicago (think “ER”) is the third most-often-used spot. The biggest loser? North Dakota, which has never hosted a fictional show.

NASCAR playoff format drives final race's ratings
NASCAR changed its season-ending format in an attempt to ramp up interest through the end of its season and that strategy seems to have paid off. NBC’s Sunday coverage of the Nextel Cup Ford 400, the culmination of the new “Chase for the Nextel Cup” playoff system, posted a 5.6 overnight rating, the best in the event’s six year history. The 5.6 average represented a 47 percent increase over the 3.8 overnight rating the event earned last year, and a 24 percent jump from the race’s best year, a 4.5 overnight rating in 2002. The Ford 400’s 5.6 overnight rating was NASCAR’s highest ever on a Sunday against NFL competition, with the previous high a 4.7 overnight rating for the 2003 EA Sports 500. Kurt Busch won NASCAR’s season title, edging Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon for the Nextel Cup

Fox airing long-banned 'Family Guy' episode
Fox is giving a controversial “Family Guy” a second try. On Dec. 10, the network will air a Jewish-themed episode titled "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" that was banned in 2000. Peter Griffin, the show’s goofball of a father figure, gets financial advice from Max Weinstein. Griffin soon believes Jewish people are more intelligent and decides to convert. He even tries to get his son a quick bar mitzvah in Vegas. Insulting several and various groups is nothing new for “Family Guy,” which has episodes that poke fun at bestiality and the concept of infant homosexuality. Fox had never censored the show before “Weinstein” got chopped. Only one line in a song in the episode has been changed. The episode has since aired on cable and is included in the DVD set. In other programming news, the WB is bumping winter reruns of “One Tree Hill” and “Jack & Bobby” in favor of reality. “High School Reunion: Catholic School” returns Dec. 7 at 9 p.m. in “Hill’s” place and “Big Man on Campus” premieres Dec. 15 at 9 p.m. as a six-week fill-in for “Bobby.”