CBS Tops in Ratings

Sunday’s documentary film on CBS, “9/11,” drew blockbuster ratings, combining with “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and a solid second outing for “Survivor: Marquesas” to pace the network to victory, based on estimates issued Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

“Survivor” improved slightly over its premiere, again trailing “Friends” in their common half-hour while surpassing NBC’s new sitcom “Leap of Faith,” which slipped by nearly 30% from the “Friends” plateau.

The week-to-week decline was nearly as steep for the second installment of NBC’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy “Watching Ellie,” which faced somewhat tougher competition than its premiere, with “The West Wing” star Martin Sheen guest starring opposite the show on son Charlie’s ABC series, “Spin City.”

Reflecting just how far ABC has fallen, the network’s most-watched program last week, “The Practice,” came in at No. 28 overall, with ratings for the courtroom show taking a tumble opposite “9/11,” the highest-rated program this season other than sporting events such as the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics. ABC’s audience was down more than 35% versus the corresponding week last year.

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National Nielsen Viewership

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