No mystery here: ‘CSI,’ ‘Housewives’ and ‘Lost’ reign
Published 9:00 pm Monday, September 26, 2005
With the coolness of an old veteran, CBS’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” shrugged off the hype behind “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” to finish on top of the weekly ratings for the week of Sept. 19 to Sept. 25, according to Nielsen Media Research.
More than 29 million people tuned in to the “CSI” premiere, with about 28.3 million turning to ABC on Sunday night for the long-awaited second-season premiere of “Housewives.” Nearly 23.5 million watched the second-season premiere of “Lost” on Wednesday night.
Rounding out the week, CBS scored big with a special presentation of its new drama, “Criminal Minds,” after “CSI,” with 19 million staying on board to watch it. “Minds” moves into its regular 9 p.m. Wednesday timeslot tomorrow night, where it should get waxed by “Lost.”
The rest of the top 10 looked like this:
5. “CSI: Miami” (CBS), 19.2 million viewers
6. “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), 18.9 million viewers
7. “Survivor: Guatemala” (CBS), 17 million viewers
8. “Law &Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC), 16.8 million viewers
9. “Invasion” (ABC), 16.4 million viewers
10. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (ABC), 16.4 million viewers.
Other notable developments:
* CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother” looks like it’s being dragged down by its lead-in, “King of Queens.” The difference is slight, but “Mother” had 10.9 million viewers while “King” had 10.7 million. The reason it’s notable, though, is because the lead-in from one half-hour show to the next typically has more viewers. If “Mother” was given the chance to kick off the hour, it might get even more people tuning in.
* The Thursday night battle between “Joey” and “Chris” appears to be a draw, which is really a huge win for “Everybody Hates Chris,” which is on UPN. “Chris” was far and away UPN’s highest-rated show, with 7.78 million viewers watching, while “Joey” was NBC’s 17th-ranked show with 7.8 million people watching. It doesn’t look like Joey’s doin’ so good.
* In better news for NBC, “My Name is Earl” was the breakout comedy hit the network hoped for, nearly doubling “Joey’s” ratings, with 15.2 million viewers to become the most-watched sitcom for the week, edging “Two and a Half Men,” which had 15 million viewers.
