With another set of strong performances from its crime procedurals, including the season’s top new hit, “The Mentalist,” CBS won its eighth straight week among total viewers in the prime-time television rankings. Meanwhile, Sunday’s American Music Awards helped ABC to a win in the advertiser-friendly category of viewers ages 18 to 49.
CBS’ scripted dramas showed strength across the board, lifting the network to a win every weeknight except Monday for the period ending Sunday, according to figures published Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. Leading the way were “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (18.4 million viewers) and “NCIS” (18 million), with “The Mentalist” not far behind (15.8 million).
ABC’s Monday performance show of “Dancing With the Stars” was the week’s most-watched program (19.6 million), and numbers were surprisingly strong for the three-hour American Music Awards (12.2 million).
Fox’s made-for-TV movie “24: Redemption” was solid but not dominating Sunday (12.1 million).
