Prime-Time Television Rankings

Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (Dec. 29-Jan. 4) 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. NFL Football game: Indianapolis at San Diego NBC 27.79

2. NFL Pregame NBC 21.86

3. NFL Football game: Philadelphia at Minnesota FOX 16.42

4. Desperate Housewives ABC 14.39

5. NCIS CBS 13.43

6. College football: Sugar Bowl, Alabama vs. Utah FOX 13.37

7. Cold Case CBS 12.67

8. 60 Minutes CBS 12.32

9. Two and a Half Men CBS 11.87

10. CSI: Miami CBS 11.36

11. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8 p.m.) ABC 10.93

12. Superstars of Dance (Sun.) NBC 10.55

13. Kennedy Center Honors CBS 10.51

14. Million Dollar Password CBS 10.41

15. CSI: Special (Thu.) CBS 9.76

16. The Unit CBS 9.73

17. Law & Order: SVU (Tue.) NBC 9.62

18. Deal or No Deal (Thu.) NBC 9.49

19. College football: Orange Bowl, Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech FOX 9.32

20. Brothers & Sisters ABC 9.09

21. Law & Order: SVU NBC 8.88

22. Rose Bowl, Postgame ABC 8.87

23. Gary Unmarried (Mon., 9:30 p.m.) CBS 8.78

24. New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ’09 ABC 8.55

25. The Big Bang Theory CBS 7.77

26. Eleventh Hour (Thu.) CBS 7.74

27. How I Met Your Mother CBS 7.70

28. Numb3rs CBS 7.60

29. Ghost Whisperer (9 p.m.) CBS 7.34

30. Deal or No Deal (Mon.) NBC 7.29

31. America’s Funniest Home Videos ABC 7.12

32. Deal or No Deal (Fri.) NBC 7.06

33. CSI: NY CBS 6.85

34. House (Mon., 8 p.m.) FOX 6.72

35. Criminal Minds CBS 6.70

36. 20/20 (Fri.) ABC 6.61

37. Bones (Mon., 9 p.m.) FOX 6.58

38. The Big Bang Theory CBS 6.51

39. Ghost Whisperer CBS 6.39

40. Happy New Year, Charlie Brown ABC 6.33

41. Movie: “Shrek 2” (Wed.) ABC 6.31

42. How I Met Your Mother CBS 6.27

43. Great Holiday Moment (Mon.) NBC 6.04

44. House FOX 5.92

45. America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back FOX 5.87

46. 24: Redemption (Sun., 8 p.m.) FOX 5.75

47. Sports Extra NBC 5.60

48. Fuego en la Sangre (Tue.) UNI 5.41

49. 48 Hours Mystery CBS 5.37

50. Fuego en la Sangre (Mon.) UNI 5.31

51. Law & Order (Tue.) NBC 5.26

Cops 2 FOX 5.26

53. Cuidado con el Angel (Tue.) UNI 5.08

Fringe FOX 5.08

55.Rudolph’s Shiny New Year ABC 5.03

56. Momma’s Boys NBC 5.00

57. Cuidado con el Angel (Mon.) UNI 4.99

58. Movie: “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl” (Mon.) ABC 4.96

59. Fuego en la Sangre (Fri.) UNI 4.88

60. America’s Funniest Home Videos (Thu.) ABC 4.78

61. Dateline (Fri.) NBC 4.76

Supernanny (Fri.) ABC 4.76

63. Cuidado con el Angel (Fri.) UNI 4.69

64. Bones (Wed., 8 p.m.) FOX 4.67

65. Knight Rider (Wed.) NBC 4.54

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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: NBC

Last week: 9.35

Season to date: 7.6

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Network: Fox

Last week: 8.71

Season to date: 7.43

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Network: CBS

Last week: 8.39

Season to date: 10.93

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Network: ABC

Last week: 6.46

Season to date: 8.84

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Network: UNI

Last week: 3.53

Season to date: 3.86