News

The battle of Thursday night became even more intense between CBS and NBC while ABC and Fox fell further into also-ran territory for the night. NBC took the nightly win the adults 18-49 demographic (10.7 rating/26 share); CBS prevailed in total viewers (22.3 million). NBC led off the night with another strong showing from Friends (25.3 million viewers, 12.s1/31 in 18-49). CBS' Survivor: Thailand (21.6 million, 8.6/22) rebounded from the dip it took last week due to the extra-long Friends episode. But even as Survivor took a big jump in the demo in its second half-hour, NBC's Scrubs (20.3 million, 10.3/25) had a firm grasp on Friends coattails. At 9 p.m., CBS took over with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (29.7 million, 11.0/26) winning the hour against NBC's Will & Grace (19 million, 10.1/24) and Good Morning Miami (14.8 million, 7.9/19). But at 10 p.m., NBC's ER (24.4 million, 12.0/30) pole-vaulted over CBS' Without a Trace (15.7 million, 5.3/14). ABC was barely a factor for the night, averaging 5.3 million viewers and 1.7/4 in 18-49 with its Concert for the World's Children special followed by the 9-11 p.m. telecast of My Best Friends' Wedding. Fox couldn't get arrested either, pulling in 4.6 million viewers and 1.8/4 with reruns of 30 Seconds to Fame and a World's Fastest Police Chases special.