Crime pays for CBS’ top 3

CBS’ new drama “The Mentalist” is turning into a major hit. Last week, the crime show was the most-watched program in prime time for the first time, with 18.7 million viewers tuning in, according to data published Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

“The Mentalist,” starring Simon Baker, is the first new series to hit No. 1 since ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” reached that mark four seasons back, in May 2005.

CBS filled out the top three programs with “NCIS” (18.5 million) and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (17.5 million). The network also had half of the top 10 shows.

As a result, CBS handily took the prize as the week’s most-watched network, trailed by ABC, Fox and NBC.

On basic cable, the week’s top program was the Houston Texans’ 30-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” with 8.9 million viewers.

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Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Dec. 1-7) 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 286 million potential viewers in the U.S. ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions.

*--* Program Network Viewers 1 The Mentalist CBS 18.74 2 NCIS CBS 18.52 3 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS 17.48 4 The OT FOX 16.22 5 Desperate Housewives ABC 16.09 *--*

*--* 6 Grey’s Anatomy ABC 15.28 7 60 Minutes CBS 13.79 8 Two and a Half Men CBS 13.63 9 Football: Washington at Baltimore NBC 13.29 10 Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating ABC 13.19 People of 2008 *--*

*--* 11 Survivor: Gabon CBS 12.73 12 House FOX 12.52 13 Without a Trace CBS 12.32 14 Movie: “Front of the Class” CBS 11.88 15 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer CBS 11.81 *--*

*--* 16 How the Grinch Stole Christmas ABC 11.41 17 Law & Order NBC 11.31 18 CSI: Miami CBS 11.16 19 Shrek the Halls ABC 11.14 20 Eleventh Hour CBS 10.86 *--*

*--* 21 Brothers & Sisters ABC 10.54 22 Amazing Race 13 CBS 10.50 23 BCS selection show FOX 10.46 24 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 10.39 25 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit NBC 10.33 *--*

*--* 26 Christmas at Rockefeller Center NBC 10.32 27 Numb3rs (10 p.m.) CBS 9.88 28 Ghost Whisperer CBS 9.71 29 NFL pre-game NBC 9.59 30 Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town ABC 8.90 *--*

*--* 31 College football: Missouri vs. Oklahoma ABC 8.76 32 Biggest Loser NBC 8.75 33 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show CBS 8.68 34 College football pre-game ABC 8.54 35 Fringe FOX 8.53 *--*

*--* 36 The Office NBC 8.46 37 Numb3rs (9 p.m.) CBS 8.43 38 Ugly Betty ABC 8.37 39 ER NBC 8.20 40 Life NBC 8.15 *--*

*--* 41 Boston Legal ABC 8.11 42 Secret Millionaire (9 p.m.) FOX 8.05 43 Heroes NBC 7.99 44 How I Met Your Mother CBS 7.88 45 Worst Week CBS 7.79 *--*

*--* 46 Private Practice ABC 7.78 47 The Big Bang Theory CBS 7.63 48 Football Night in America Part 3 NBC 7.62 49 Chuck NBC 7.33 50 30 Rock NBC 7.18 *--*

*--* 51 The Grammy Nominations Concert Live CBS 6.99 52 48 Hours Mystery CBS 6.68 53 Secret Millionaire (8 p.m.) FOX 6.67 54 Family Guy FOX 6.60 55 Samantha Who? ABC 6.51 *--*

*--* 56 20/20 (Fri.) ABC 6.44 57 The Simpsons FOX 6.43 58 According to Jim ABC 6.13 My Name Is Earl NBC 6.13 60 Movie: “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” ABC 6.08 *--*

*--* 61 Samantha Who ABC 6.04 62 Cops (8:30 p.m.) FOX 5.86 63 Prison Break FOX 5.84 64 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles FOX 5.82 65 Law & Order: Special Victimes Unit (Sat.) NBC 5.68 *--*

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 10.9 11.36

ABC 8.62 10.03

NBC 7.52 7.44

FOX 7.66 7.71

UNI 4.03 3.93 *--*

-- Scott Collins