PRIME-TIME TV RANKINGS

Regis Philbin has saved ABC again -- this time from embarrassment.

The first night of a two-week run of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” prime-time specials was seen by 7 million people Sunday, Nielsen Media Research reported Tuesday.

That’s very different from summer 1999, when the show had audiences as big as 22 million the first time out. Yet it was twice what ABC averaged in prime time last week.

ABC’s average of 3.48 million viewers was the second-lowest in the network’s history, Nielsen said. Without Philbin, ABC would no doubt have a lower average than the 3.46 million it had the same week in August 2008, its low-water mark. Philbin was credited by some for “saving” ABC with the original “Millionaire” when the network was in a ratings trough.

ABC got its biggest summer audience on a Sunday for a nonsporting event in two years.

CBS’ reruns helped it win the week, but “America’s Got Talent” and a Saturday night NFL exhibition game led NBC to a solid second place.

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Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Aug. 3-9) 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 America’s Got Talent (Tue.) NBC 12.96 2 America’s Got Talent (Wed.) NBC 10.67 3 NCIS CBS 9.89 4 So You Think Can Dance (results) FOX 9.57 5 60 Minutes CBS 9.50 *--*

*--* 6 Two and a Half Men CBS 9.46 7 The Big Bang Theory CBS 8.39 8 Wipeout ABC 8.02 9 CSI: NY CBS 7.99 10 Preseason Football: Buffalo vs. Tennessee NBC 7.92 *--*

*--* 11 CSI: Miami CBS 7.91 12 So You Think Can Dance FOX 7.78 13 The Mentalist CBS 7.67 14 Big Brother (Sun.) CBS 7.15 15 CSI CBS 7.07 *--*

*--* 16 Dateline (Mon.) NBC 7.06 17 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ABC 7.00 18 America’s Got Talent (Tue.) NBC 6.91 19 Hell’s Kitchen FOX 6.74 20 Big Brother (Thu.) CBS 6.44 *--*

*--* 21 Big Brother (Tue.) CBS 6.40 22 Criminal Minds CBS 6.19 23 America’s Funniest Home Videos ABC 5.91 24 Cold Case CBS 5.81 25 Dateline (Sun.) NBC 5.80 *--*

*--* 26 Dateline (Fri.) NBC 5.56 27 Law & Order: Criminal Intent NBC 5.51 28 48 Hours Mystery CBS 5.28 29 Rules of Engagement CBS 5.13 30 Cops (8:30 p.m.) FOX 4.92 *--*

*--* 31 America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back FOX 4.88 Manana Es Para Siempre (Tue.) UNI 4.88 33 There Goes the Neighborhood CBS 4.84 34 Manana Es Para Siempre (Thu.) UNI 4.76 35 TV’s 50 Funniest Phrases NBC 4.74 *--*

*--* 36 How I Met Your Mother CBS 4.72 37 Manana Es Para Siempre (Mon.) UNI 4.69 38 House FOX 4.60 39 Family Guy FOX 4.52 Numb3rs CBS 4.52 *--*

*--* 41 Great American Road Trip NBC 4.50 42 Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? FOX 4.38 43 Flashpoint CBS 4.32 Manana Es Para Siempre (Wed.) UNI 4.32 45 Ghost Whisperer CBS 4.28 *--*

*--* 46 Law & Order NBC 4.23 47 Manana Es Para Siempre (Fri.) UNI 4.21 The Philanthropist NBC 4.21 49 Medium CBS 4.18 50 Shark Tank ABC 4.15 *--*

*--* The Simpsons (8:30 p.m.) FOX 4.15 52 Cops FOX 3.99 53 American Dad FOX 3.96 54 Sugarland: Live on the Inside ABC 3.95 55 More to Love FOX 3.84 *--*

*--* 56 20/20 (Fri.) ABC 3.76 57 Gary Unmarried CBS 3.74 58 The Simpsons FOX 3.69 The New Adventures of Old Christine CBS 3.69 60 Dating in the Dark ABC 3.67 *--*

*--* 61 I Survived a Japanese Game Show ABC 3.59 62 En Nombre del Amor (Tue.) UNI 3.52 63 En Nombre del Amor (Mon.) UNI 3.48 64 En Nombre del Amor (Thu.) UNI 3.42 Law & Order: SVU (Sat.) NBC 3.42 *--*

*--* 66 Primetime: Family Secrets ABC 3.34 67 En Nombre del Amor (Fri.) UNI 3.22 68 Mental (Fri.) FOX 3.21 69 En Nombre del Amor (Wed.) UNI 3.17 70 30 Rock (8 p.m.) NBC 3.16 *--*

*--* 71 Southland NBC 3.05 72 Don Francisco Presenta UNI 3.04 73 Movie: “Finding Nemo” ABC 3.03 74 Cristina UNI 2.97 75 Mujeres Asesinas (Thu.) UNI 2.91 *--*

*--* 76 Crimetime Saturday (8 p.m.) CBS 2.90 77 Aqui y Ahora UNI 2.80 *--*

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 6.15 10.01

NBC 5.93 6.81

FOX 5.29 8.16

ABC 3.48 7.48

UNI 2.97 3.73 *--*