“Lost” dominates another Wednesday for ABC

From Zap2It
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ABC won the Wednesday Nielsen race for the fourth week in a row, but improved performances from “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY helped CBS keep things interesting.

For the night, ABC averaged an 8.7 rating/14 share among households. CBS was a solid second at 7.9/12. FOX, 6.3/10, took third ahead of NBC’s 6.0/9. UPN’s 2.9/4 was good for fifth, beating out The WB’s 1.8/3.

ABC’s lead among adults 18-49 was wider. It scored a 5.9 rating in the ad-friendly demographic to finish well in front of CBS, 3.9. FOX, 3.0, was third, followed by NBC, 2.8, and UPN, 2.1. The WB trailed with a 1.2.

“George Lopez,” 5.5/9, and the premiere of “Freddie,” 5.9/9, put ABC in a first-place tie at 8 p.m. with FOX, which was airing baseball’s league championship series (because of that, FOX’s numbers reflect time period only and will change some in final nationals). ABC led in total viewers, however. NBC’s “E-Ring,” 5.6/9, was right behind in third, with CBS’ “Still Standing” and “Yes, Dear” on its heels in fourth. “America’s Next Top Model” posted a 3.6/6 for UPN, topping “One Tree Hill” on The WB.

ABC dominated at 9 p.m. with “Lost,” 12.6/19. “Criminal Minds” scored its best Wednesday rating so far with an 8.6/13 to take second over FOX’s baseball coverage, 6.6/10. “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” improved a little over last week, averaging 5.1/8 to finish fourth. UPN stayed in fifth with “Veronica Mars,” which beat out The WB’s “Related.”

CBS took the lead at 10 p.m. with “CSI: NY,” 9.7/16. ABC got a 7.7/12 from “Invasion,” while NBC’s “Law & Order” could manage only a 7.2/12. FOX’s baseball coverage came in at 6.7/11.