TV Jots

8pm: ABC can give huge thanks to cartoons for its primetime success. The half-hour animated holiday specials Shrek the Halls (21.06 million viewers, 7.2 rating/20 share) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (18.74m, 6.8/17) were the two most-watched shows of the night.

NBC’s special Christmas in Rockefeller Center (8.98m, 2.0/6) was a very, very distant second in total viewers from 8pm to 9pm. Kid Nation (7.29m, 2.1/6) on CBS came in a close third, followed by a double episode of ‘Til Death (5.99m, 2.3/6) on Fox and America’s Next Top Model (5.03m, 2.4/7) on The CW.

9pm: Surprise, surprise (not). CBS leapt to the front of the line at 9pm with Criminal Minds (16.26m, 4.5/11), the third biggest draw of the night overall. ABC and Pushing Daisies (10.18m, 3.8/9) pulled in second, ahead of Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares (7.03m, 3.3/8) at third, NBC’s disappearing Bionic Woman (5.99m, 2.2/5) at fourth, and The CW’s Gossip Girl (2.98m, 1.4/4) last.

10pm: CSI: NY (14.03m, 4.1/11) had an easy time of it in the final hour, while ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money (7.15m, 2.6/7) and NBC’s Life (6.27m, 2.2/6) were a customary second and third, respectively.

Overall: CBS (12.53m, 3.5/9) took top honors in total viewers, but ABC (12.41m, 4.5/11) did the same for the 18–49 demographic. NBC (7.08m, 2.1/5) and Fox (6.51m, 2.8/7) had a similar split, with NBC leading Fox in total viewers and Fox besting NBC among 18–49-year-olds. Meanwhile, The CW (4.01m, 1.9/5) was all by its lonesome at last on both measures.

DATA EXPLANATION: In the households figure 6.4/11, 6.4 is the household RATING that indicates what average percentage of U.S. households tuned into a particular show (6.4%), while 11 is the household SHARE that refers to what average percentage of televisions in use were tuned into a particular show (11%).

Tags: November Sweeps, ratings, television, tv