Half Men Cbs

NBC's coverage of the first three days of the Summer Olympics proved to be immune from the trend of declining viewership for most forms of television programming, drawing nearly 27% more viewers than the corresponding period in the Athens Games four years ago, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. The average of 30.4 million viewers for the first three days of the Beijing Games was 26.7% more than the 24 million for the same period during the Athens Games.

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Jan. 6-12, 2013 in PDF format This week's TV Movies     SERIES 30 Rock: Jack (Alec Baldwin) enlists his rival (Will Arnett) to help him discredit his young nemesis (Chloë Grace Moretz), while Liz (Tina Fey) weighs her options for motherhood. Octavia Spencer also guest stars in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). Last Resort:  A mutiny, a typhoon and a coup d'etat in Washington force Marcus (Andre Braugher)

The Season 8 return of "American Idol" brought huge audiences back to Fox, but the network still couldn't get past CBS last week, which cruised to No. 1 with football and the goodbye episode for star William L. Petersen on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Tuesday's two-hour premiere of "Idol" averaged 30.4 million viewers, down 9% compared with last year's opener, according to data published Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. But CBS piled up 40.6 million viewers, the largest prime-time audience so far this season, for its Sunday telecast of the AFC Championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Trouble and Charlie Sheen have never been strangers, but now the star's felony rap could cause major headaches for his TV bosses. Sheen was charged last week with felony menacing and two lesser counts in connection with a Christmas incident in which Aspen, Colo., police said he assaulted and threatened his wife, Brooke Mueller. Sheen, out on bail, didn't enter a plea and is due back for a court hearing March 15. If convicted, he could face three years behind bars. What does that mean for CBS' "Two and a Half Men," the No. 1-rated sitcom that stars Sheen as a caddish lout?

The season finale of "American Idol" enabled Fox to end CBS' four-week winning streak in the prime-time television ratings race, according to figures released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. With the week's two "American Idol" broadcasts finishing in their customary 1-2 position, Fox averaged 12.48 million viewers for its 15 1/2 hours of prime-time programming between May 19 and Sunday. The week included the final three days of the official 2007-08 television season, in which Fox finished first in total viewers for the first time in its history.

With last week's inaugural festivities depressing ratings for Fox's "American Idol," CBS managed to sneak away with a narrow ratings win for the week ending Jan. 25. The Wednesday "Idol" was the week's most-watched program, with 25.9 million viewers, according to figures published Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. But the Tuesday edition -- facing stiff competition from coverage of the inaugural balls for President Obama on ABC and the cable news networks -- delivered a lower-than-usual 22.8 million.

It's still early in the TV season, but CBS is shaping up as the network to beat. For the second straight week, the network won the prime-time ratings race in total viewers and in the advertiser-friendly young-adult demographics. For the week ending Sunday, CBS was No. 1 on five nights, according to figures published Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. The network had half of the top 10 shows, including the most-watched program with Thursday's Season 9 premiere of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (23.5 million viewers)

CBS won its third straight week in the prime-time ratings, propelled by strong showings for "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "NCIS" as well as the fall's top new show, "The Mentalist." The network had half of the 10 most-watched shows -- including No. 1 "CSI" (19.3 million viewers) -- and won every night except Monday and Wednesday for the week ending Oct. 19, according to figures published Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. CBS was also first in the advertiser-friendly demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49. The network was the only network to post year-to-year gains in every category and was up 4% in viewers; its competitors all plunged by double digits.

During an otherwise glitz-free year in Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild had its biggest audience Sunday since moving to cable television in 1998 -- but no one will confuse it with the Oscars. An estimated 6.1 million people watched the SAG Awards on either TNT or TBS, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. That's up from 5.8 million who watched the award show last year. During three years that it was televised on NBC, its biggest audience was 12.5 million.

Viewers didn't need the hard sell as AMC's "Mad Men" returned with record ratings on Sunday. The acclaimed '60s ad industry drama, which scored 16 Emmy nominations earlier this month, drew 2.1 million total viewers for the Season 2 premiere, according to figures released Tuesday from Nielsen Media Research. That was the series' highest tally, besting the 1.8 million logged for the premiere last July. "Mad Men," however, will face tougher challenges in the weeks ahead. Last season, the show's ratings drooped in September, once the broadcast networks returned with their fall series.

In addition to being an optimist, Michael J. Fox is still a television star. His special "Adventures of an Incurable Optimist" was watched by 10.2 million viewers, enough to put it on Nielsen Media Research's list of the 20 most popular prime-time shows for last week. The Parkinson's patient and former sitcom star ("Family Ties," "Spin City") explored the nature of positive thinking. It helped ABC run neck-and-neck for second place with Fox for the weekly ratings released Tuesday.

The Season 8 return of "American Idol" brought huge audiences back to Fox, but the network still couldn't get past CBS last week, which cruised to No. 1 with football and the goodbye episode for star William L. Petersen on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." Tuesday's two-hour premiere of "Idol" averaged 30.4 million viewers, down 9% compared with last year's opener, according to data published Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. But CBS piled up 40.6 million viewers, the largest prime-time audience so far this season, for its Sunday telecast of the AFC Championship game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

CBS had nine of last week's 10 most-watched shows to win the weekly prime-time ratings race for the 12th consecutive week and became the first of the four major broadcast networks to average more viewers for the season than a year ago. CBS averaged 11.2 million viewers for its prime-time programming between Dec. 15 and Sunday, topped by a series-high 19.94 million for "NCIS," according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Only NBC's Sunday night football game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants broke CBS' monopoly of the week's top 10, finishing third overall with 18.86 million viewers.

CBS won its third straight week in the prime-time ratings, propelled by strong showings for "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "NCIS" as well as the fall's top new show, "The Mentalist." The network had half of the 10 most-watched shows -- including No. 1 "CSI" (19.3 million viewers) -- and won every night except Monday and Wednesday for the week ending Oct. 19, according to figures published Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. CBS was also first in the advertiser-friendly demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49. The network was the only network to post year-to-year gains in every category and was up 4% in viewers; its competitors all plunged by double digits.

It's still early in the TV season, but CBS is shaping up as the network to beat. For the second straight week, the network won the prime-time ratings race in total viewers and in the advertiser-friendly young-adult demographics. For the week ending Sunday, CBS was No. 1 on five nights, according to figures published Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. The network had half of the top 10 shows, including the most-watched program with Thursday's Season 9 premiere of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (23.5 million viewers)

CBS had nine of last week's 10 most-watched shows to win the weekly prime-time ratings race for the 12th consecutive week and became the first of the four major broadcast networks to average more viewers for the season than a year ago. CBS averaged 11.2 million viewers for its prime-time programming between Dec. 15 and Sunday, topped by a series-high 19.94 million for "NCIS," according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Only NBC's Sunday night football game between the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants broke CBS' monopoly of the week's top 10, finishing third overall with 18.86 million viewers.