PRIME-TIME TV RANKINGS

CBS, NBC and Fox Broadcasting all had something to crow about from the ratings for last week’s prime-time television programming.

CBS was the most-watched network, NBC had the most-watched program, and Fox was a narrow winner among viewers ages 18 to 49, the group the networks and advertisers covet.

CBS had six of the eight most-watched shows between June 29 and Sunday, and averaged 6.89 million viewers in a week that typically has low viewership, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

NBC was second, averaging 5.38 million viewers, thanks in large measure to a 1-2 finish by “America’s Got Talent.” The Tuesday episode drew 13.15 million viewers, the most for any non-sports prime-time program this summer.

Fox was third for the week, averaging 4.24 million viewers, followed by ABC with 3.72 million, My Network TV with 1.42 million and the CW with 899,000. Fox finished first among viewers ages 18 to 49, one-tenth of a percentage point ahead of CBS and NBC. Statistical rounding left Fox in a tie with NBC for first among both men and women in the category.

“NBC Nightly News” was the most-watched network newscast for the 38th consecutive week, averaging 8.34 million viewers. ABC’s “World News With Charles Gibson” was second, averaging 7.15 million viewers, while “The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric” averaged 5.69 million viewers to finish third for the 145th consecutive week. Figures for all three network newscasts do not include Friday because of the Independence Day holiday.

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Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (June 28-July 5) 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 13.14 2 America’s Got Talent (Wed., 9 p.m.) NBC 11.44 3 NCIS CBS 10.83 4 The Mentalist CBS 10.54 5 The Mentalist CBS 9.79 *--*

*--* 6 Two and a Half Men CBS 9.29 7 60 Minutes CBS 8.39 8 CSI CBS 8.24 9 America’s Got Talent (Tue., 8 p.m.) NBC 8.23 10 CSI: NY CBS 8.20 *--*

*--* 11 Criminal Minds CBS 8.04 12 48 Hours Mystery (Tue.) CBS 8.02 13 CSI: Miami CBS 8.01 14 Wipeout ABC 8.00 15 The Big Bang Theory CBS 7.95 *--*

*--* 16 The Bachelorette ABC 7.94 17 So You Think You Can Dance (Wed.) FOX 7.72 18 Law & Order: SVU NBC 7.33 19 So You Think You Can Dance (Thu.) FOX 7.23 20 Cold Case CBS 7.00 *--*

*--* 21 Boston Pops Fireworks CBS 6.78 22 Dateline (Mon.) NBC 6.73 23 Million Dollar Password CBS 6.66 24 Without a Trace CBS 6.65 25 CSI: Miami (Thu.) CBS 6.42 *--*

*--* 26 NBC Nightly News (Fri.) NBC 6.41 27 America’s Got Talent (Wed., 8 p.m.) NBC 6.03 28 Rules of Engagement CBS 5.76 29 ABC World News (Fri.) ABC 5.70 30 Philanthropist NBC 5.69 *--*

*--* 31 Law & Order: Criminal Intent NBC 5.66 32 How I Met Your Mother CBS 5.37 33 Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks NBC 5.22 34 Numb3rs CBS 5.19 35 Dateline (Fri.) NBC 5.13 *--*

*--* 36 Law & Order NBC 5.03 37 Manana es Para Siempre (Tue.) UNI 4.98 38 Manana es Para Siempre (Wed.) UNI 4.97 39 Manana es Para Siempre (Thu.) UNI 4.76 40 Here Come the Newlyweds ABC 4.70 *--*

*--* 41 Primetime: Crime ABC 4.64 42 Bones FOX 4.61 43 Dateline (Sun. 7 p.m.) NBC 4.59 CBS Evening News (Fri.) CBS 4.59 Manana es Para Siempre (Mon.) UNI 4.59 *--*

*--* 46 Ghost Whisperer CBS 4.54 47 The New Adventures of Old Christine CBS 4.50 48 Flashpoint CBS 4.38 49 Merlin NBC 4.34 Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (Fri. 8 p.m.) FOX 4.34 *--*

*--* 51 Family Guy FOX 4.33 52 20/20 (Fri.) ABC 4.31 The Simpsons (Sun. 9:30 p.m.) FOX 4.31 54 Gary Unmarried CBS 4.30 55 Law & Order: SVU (Sat.) NBC 4.27 *--*

*--* 56 Manana es Para Siempre (Fri.) UNI 4.24 57 America’s Funniest Home Videos ABC 4.19 Cuidado con el Angel (Wed.) UNI 4.19 59 American Idol: Michael Jackson (Encore) FOX 4.15 60 Cuidado con el Angel (Mon.) UNI 4.13 *--*

*--* 61 Movie: “The Bourne Supremacy” (Sun.) NBC 4.12 62 Just for Laughs ABC 4.01 63 The Superstars ABC 3.97 64 Cuidado con el Angel (Tue.) UNI 3.95 65 Cuidado con el Angel (Thu.) UNI 3.87 *--*

*--* 66 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (8 p.m.) ABC 3.78 67 The Simpsons FOX 3.67 68 Primetime: Family Secrets ABC 3.60 69 I Survived a Japanese Game Show ABC 3.54 70 Cuidado con el Angel (Fri.) UNI 3.42 *--*

*--* 71 Samantha Who? ABC 3.40 72 48 Hours Mystery (8 p.m.) CBS 3.31 73 Listener NBC 3.30 74 King of the Hill FOX 3.24 75 Mental (Fri. 9 p.m.) FOX 3.21 *--*

*--* 76 Samantha Who? (Thu.) ABC 3.18 77 Aqui y Ahora (Tue.) UNI 3.14 78 Cristina (Mon.) UNI 3.05 79 Don Francisco Presenta (Wed.) UNI 3.03 80 30 Rock (8 p.m.) NBC 3.01 *--*

*--* 81 Cops (Sat. 9:30 p.m.) FOX 2.96 82 Mujeres Asesinas (Thu.) UNI 2.85 83 Rosa de Guadalupe (Fri.) UNI 2.83 84 Copa Oro: Nicaragua vs. Mexico UNI 2.82 85 Movie: “Legally Blond” (Tue. 8 p.m.) FOX 2.81 *--*

*--* 86 The Office NBC 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 6.89 10.47

NBC 5.38 7.01

FOX 4.24 8.53

ABC 3.72 7.9

UNI 3.29 3.82 *--*