PRIME-TIME TV RANKINGS

ABC and Fox Broadcasting combined to score five of the week’s seven most-watched shows last week, but CBS still prevailed as the most-watched network for the seventh consecutive week and 24th time in the season’s 30 weeks.

With an array of series that people consistently flock to watch, even in reruns, CBS averaged 9.92 million viewers for its prime-time programming between April 13 and Sunday, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” was CBS’ most-watched show and the week’s most-watched scripted program, finishing fourth overall with 15.72 million viewers.

Fox averaged 9.28 million viewers for the week to finish second, thanks mainly to the usual 1-2 finish by “American Idol.” The Tuesday competition program led the week with 24.38 million viewers, while the Wednesday results show was second with 24.11 million.

Sunday’s premiere of Fox’s animated comedy “Sit Down, Shut Up” won its 8:30-9 p.m. time slot among viewers ages 12 to 17 and 18 to 34. But it was third among viewers ages 18 to 49, the group that Fox, ABC and NBC target and advertisers covet, and fourth overall with 5.19 million viewers.

NBC was fourth for the week, averaging 6.31 million viewers. The network’s most-watched program was the second episode of its police drama “Southland,” which was 25th with 9.61 million viewers and first in its Thursday 10-11 p.m. time slot. “Southland” retained 97% of the 9.86 million viewers that watched its premiere.

NBC’s coverage of Sunday’s Miss USA Pageant drew a record-low 5 million viewers. The previous low was 5.66 million for last year’s pageant. The pageant’s record viewership was 38.11 million in 1979.

The opening 60-minute segment of USA Network’s professional wrestling program “WWE Raw” was the week’s most-watched cable show, with 5.98 million viewers, which would have put it 54th among the programs shown on the five major broadcast networks.

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Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (April 13-19) 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 American Idol FOX 24.38 2 American Idol (results) FOX 24.11 3 Dancing With the Stars ABC 19.46 4 CSI CBS 15.72 5 Dancing With the Stars (results) ABC 15.24 *--*

*--* 6 Two and a Half Men CBS 15.03 7 Desperate Housewives ABC 13.85 8 NCIS CBS 13.56 9 CSI: Miami CBS 13.38 10 Without a Trace CBS 13.23 *--*

*--* 11 House FOX 12.19 12 The Mentalist CBS 12.18 13 CSI: NY CBS 12.14 14 60 Minutes CBS 12.04 15 Survivor: Tocantins CBS 11.64 *--*

*--* 16 Rules of Engagement CBS 11.60 17 Bones (Wed.) FOX 11.01 18 24 FOX 10.86 19 Criminal Minds CBS 10.58 20 The Amazing Race CBS 10.30 *--*

*--* 21 Fringe FOX 10.15 22 The Big Bang Theory CBS 10.06 23 Movie: “The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler” CBS 9.83 24 Surviving Suburbia ABC 9.71 25 Southland NBC 9.61 *--*

*--* 26 How I Met Your Mother CBS 9.60 27 Brothers & Sisters ABC 9.46 28 Lost ABC 9.23 29 The Biggest Loser NBC 9.11 30 Bones FOX 8.85 *--*

*--* 31 The Celebrity Apprentice NBC 8.41 32 The Office NBC 8.37 33 Hell’s Kitchen FOX 8.11 34 Harper’s Island CBS 7.82 35 Medium NBC 7.65 *--*

*--* 36 America’s Funniest Home Videos ABC 7.56 37 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ABC 7.45 38 Family Guy FOX 7.34 39 30 Rock NBC 7.32 40 Castle ABC 7.28 *--*

*--* 41 48 Hours Mystery CBS 7.25 42 Dateline (Fri.) NBC 7.00 43 Heroes NBC 6.83 44 Numb3rs CBS 6.75 45 The Simpsons FOX 6.58 *--*

*--* 46 Ghost Whisperer CBS 6.52 47 Law & Order: SVU NBC 6.49 48 Flashpoint CBS 6.36 49 Chuck NBC 6.21 50 Cupid ABC 6.10 *--*

*--* 51 Parks and Recreation NBC 6.01 The Unusuals ABC 6.01 53 NASCAR: Subway Fresh Fit 500 FOX 5.98 54 Law & Order NBC 5.97 55 Manana Para Siempre (Tue.) UNI 5.84 *--*

*--* 56 Gary Unmarried CBS 5.76 57 American Dad FOX 5.72 58 Manana Para Siempre (Mon.) UNI 5.69 59 The New Adventures of Old Christine CBS 5.57 Manana Para Siempre (Wed.) UNI 5.57 *--*

*--* 61 Wife Swap ABC 5.42 62 Manana Para Siempre (Thu.) UNI 5.40 63 My Name Is Earl NBC 5.35 48 Hours Mystery CBS 5.35 65 20/20 ABC 5.26 *--*

*--* 66 Law & Order: SVU (Wed.) NBC 5.22 67 Sit Down Shut Up FOX 5.19 68 Law & Order (8 p.m.) NBC 5.16 69 Manana Para Siempre (Fri.) UNI 5.15 70 Scrubs ABC 5.06 *--*

*--* Grey’s Anatomy ABC 5.06 72 Cuidado con el Angel (Wed.) UNI 5.00 Miss USA 2009 NBC 5.00 74 Cuidado con el Angel (Thu.) UNI 4.88 Cuidado con el Angel (Tue.) UNI 4.88 *--*

*--* 76 Samantha Who? ABC 4.84 77 Cuidado con el Angel (Mon.) UNI 4.83 78 Better Off Ted ABC 4.62 In the Motherhood ABC 4.62 80 Crimetime Saturday CBS 4.60 *--*

*--* 81 Supernanny ABC 4.57 82 According to Jim ABC 4.52 83 Cuidado con el Angel (Fri.) UNI 4.49 84 Private Practice ABC 4.23 85 NASCAR Preshow FOX 4.18 *--*

*--* 86 Law & Order: SVU (Sat.) NBC 4.14 87 According to Jim (8:30 p.m.) ABC 4.13 88 Aqui y Ahora UNI 3.86 89 America’s Next Top Model CW 3.78 90 Cristina UNI 3.72 *--*

*--* 91 Las Tontas No Van al Cielo (Mon.) UNI 3.63 92 Southland (Sat.) NBC 3.51 93 Las Tontas No Van al Cielo (Mon.) UNI 3.49 94 Rosa de Guadalupe UNI 3.41 Las Tontas No Van al Cielo (Mon.) UNI 3.41 *--*

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 Lastweek Seasonto date FOX 8.76 9.16

CBS 8.56 11.21

ABC 7.89 8.42

NBC 7.32 7.54

UNI 3.48 3.94 *--*