Love is on the air for NBC, CBS

The search for love on unscripted TV shows provided a range of bliss and heartache for networks last week, according to national ratings released by Nielsen Media on Tuesday.

The finale of NBC’s controversial “For Love or Money” proved to be irresistible for viewers who made it the top-rated series of the week. Almost 13 million viewers tuned in to the final installment in which Erin Brodie chose the cash prize over bachelor Rob Campos. Brodie, attempting to double her prize, is now starring in “For Love or Money 2,” which premiered Monday.

Viewers were less enamored with CBS’ “Cupid,” the new unscripted series from “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell about a woman’s search for Mr. Right. The show’s premiere drew lackluster ratings, attracting 7.4 million viewers.

CBS had more promising news with the premiere of the fourth edition of “Big Brother.” The premiere, watched by 9.7 million viewers, was the highest-rated “Big Brother” debut since its premiere in 2000, when it followed an episode of “Survivor.”

The “Law & Order” franchise continues to provide a power punch to NBC’s summer schedule. Four of the week’s top 10 shows among total viewers were a double run of “Law & Order” and its two spinoffs, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” CBS’ hits “CSI” and “CSI: Miami” also made the top 10.

The final episode of UPN’s “America’s Next Top Model” performed impressively, ranking 20th in the 18-34 demographic, a key target audience for the unscripted reality series. The series also scored well with female audiences.

Greg Braxton

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Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (July 7-13) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 272.04 million potential viewers in the U.S. age 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions.

*--* Program Net- work View- ers Program Net- work View- ers

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*--* 1 For Love or Money NBC 12.90 2 Law & Order NBC 12.42 3 CSI CBS 12.34 4 Without a Trace CBS 11.15 5 Everybody Loves Raymond CBS 11.02

6 CSI: Miami CBS 10.34 7 Law & Order (9 p.m.) NBC 10.33 8 Law & Order: Criminal Intent NBC 10.21 9 60 Minutes CBS 10.06 10 Law & Order: SVU NBC 9.97

11 King of Queens CBS 9.95 12 Big Brother 4 CBS 9.70 13 Dateline NBC (Tue.) NBC 9.49 14 20/20 (Fri.) ABC 9.24 15 Big Brother 4 (Wed.) CBS 9.02

16 60 Minutes II CBS 8.69 17 “The Mask of Zorro” CBS 8.43 18 George Lopez (Wed.) ABC 8.36 19 America’s Funniest Home Videos ABC 8.35 20 Fear Factor NBC 8.29

21 Friends NBC 8.05 Amazing Race: 4 CBS 8.05 Crime & Punishment NBC 8.05 24 My Wife & Kids ABC 8.01 25 Last Comic Standing NBC 7.80

26 Still Standing CBS 7.57 27 According to Jim ABC 7.48 28 Cupid CBS 7.40 29 Dateline NBC (Sun.) NBC 7.38 30 Big Brother 4 (Fri.) CBS 7.35

31 Dog Eats Dog NBC 7.31 32 The Simpsons FOX 7.30 33 Yes, Dear CBS 7.26 34 American Juniors (Tue.) FOX 7.03 35 The Drew Carey Show (9 p.m.) ABC 6.97

36 Primetime Thursday ABC 6.95 The Drew Carey Show (9:30 p.m.) ABC 6.95 38 Dateline NBC (Fri.) NBC 6.86 39 America’s Most Wanted FOX 6.85 40 Scrubs NBC 6.76

41 8 Simple Rules ABC 6.71 42 The Simpsons (9:30 p.m.) FOX 6.69 43 Fame NBC 6.54 44 Will & Grace NBC 6.53 45 Judging Amy CBS 6.48

46 “Picture Perfect” ABC 6.32 Whose Line Is It Anyway? (9:30 p.m.) ABC 6.32 ER NBC 6.32 49 That ‘70s Show FOX 6.28 NYPD Blue ABC 6.28

51 Becker CBS 6.24 52 Banzai FOX 6.22 53 Less Than Perfect ABC 6.21 54 Paradise Hotel (Wed.) FOX 6.12 55 “The New Swiss Family Robinson” ABC 6.09

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (9 p.m.) ABC 6.09 57 The Guardian CBS 6.01 58 George Lopez (Mon., 9 p.m.) ABC 5.97 59 Frasier NBC 5.93 60 George Lopez (Mon., 8:30 p.m.) ABC 5.83 61 WWE Smackdown! UPN 5.80 62 George Lopez (Mon., 9:30 p.m.) ABC 5.70

63 Cops (8:30 p.m.) FOX 5.65 Primetime Special Edition ABC 5.65 65 George Lopez (Mon., 8 p.m.) ABC 5.63

66 Malcolm in the Middle FOX 5.51 67 The District CBS 5.48 68 Life With Bonnie ABC 5.41 69 JAG CBS 5.36 70 The Practice ABC 5.12

71 King of the Hill FOX 5.08 72 48 Hours Investigates (Fri.) CBS 5.07 73 Paradise Hotel (Mon.) FOX 4.79 74 Cops FOX 4.71 75 48 Hours Investigates CBS 4.67

76 “Dale Earnhardt Tribute Concert” FOX 4.61 77 “Deep Rising” ABC 4.53 78 America’s Next Top Model UPN 4.47 79 “Stupid Behavior Special” FOX 4.39 80 Dragnet ABC 4.35

Hack CBS 4.35 82 Anything for Love FOX 4.24 83 Keen Eddie FOX 4.13 84 Futurama FOX 3.95 85 “Blue Streak” WB 3.70

86 Alias ABC 3.61 87 The Dating Experiment ABC 3.47 88 One on One UPN 3.36 89 Girlfriends UPN 3.28 90 The Parkers UPN 3.15

91 Reba (9 p.m.) WB 3.12 92 “Critical Assembly” NBC 2.92 93 Half & Half UPN 2.88 94 7th Heaven WB 2.68 95 Grounded for Life WB 2.67

96 Boston Public (8 p.m.) FOX 2.66 97 Just Shoot Me (8:30 p.m.) NBC 2.61 Boston Public (9 p.m.) FOX 2.61 Reba (8 p.m.) WB 2.61 100 Smallville WB 2.57

Jamie Kennedy (9:30 p.m.) WB 2.57 102 Just Shoot Me (8 p.m.) NBC 2.51 103 America’s Next Top Model (Tue.) UPN 2.43 104 What I Like About You WB 2.37 105 Gilmore Girls WB 2.36

106 Enterprise UPN 2.28 107 Jamie Kennedy (9 p.m.) WB 2.26 108 Charmed WB 2.11 109 Everwood WB 1.99 110 Boarding House (Wed.) WB 1.96

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Network averages

Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.

*--* Network Last week Season to date CBS 7.90 11.77

NBC 7.87 11.00

ABC 6.03 9.27

FOX 5.10 9.26

UPN 3.15 3.43

WB 2.45 3.82

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