NBC’s Thursday-night Must-See TV may not have topped TV viewers’ “must” list last week, but a lot of them did tune into the network’s reality and quiz shows — enough, in fact to give the network a win for the week. With shows like The Weakest Link (tied for third place), Fear Factor (12th) and Spy TV (18th) boosting the network’s summertime audience, it wound up with an average 5.3 rating and a 10 share. CBS and ABC tied for second with a 5.2/10, followed by Fox with a 3.6/7. Seven of the Nielsen top ten were either magazine, quiz or reality shows, with only reruns of the drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and the sitcoms Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends breaking into the list.
The top 10 shows of the week according to Nielsen Research:
1. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Sunday), ABC, 9.4/15; 2. Millionaire (Thursday), ABC, 8.1/14; 3. (Tie) 20/20 (Friday), ABC, 7.9/15; Weakest Link, NBC, 7.9/14; 5. Millionaire (Tuesday), ABC, 7.8/16; 6. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 7.6/13; 7. 60 Minutes, CBS, 7.4/15; 7. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 7.4/13; 9. Friends, NBC, 7.1/14; 10. 48 Hours, CBS, 6.8/12.
