Fox, CBS: The Donald Is Not No. 1
By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/8/2004 7:21:00 AM
Who’s No. 1? According to Fox and CBS, it’s not The Apprentice.
When The Donald bragged to reporters Wednesday that his Mark Burnett-produced reality show was the No. 1 show on television, Fox and CBS were quick to respond, firing off press releases touting the No. 1 qualities of their own shows.
From a pure numbers perspective, Fox’s American Idol is actually the No. 1 show in both adults 18-49 and viewers. In adults 18-49, the American Idol performance show on Tuesdays leads the pack with a whopping 11.4 rating/30 share.
The No. 2 show on TV in the demo is the American Idol results show on Wednesdays, with a 10.7/28.
NBC’s The Apprentice comes in a respectable third with a 9.5/23. Tuesday’s American Idol also is the No. 1 show among total viewers, averaging 26.54 million viewers and just beating out CBS’s CSI at 26.48 million. Wednesday’s American Idol is third with 24.65 million, while The Apprentice is in seventh-place overall with 19.45 million.
CSI
also beats The Apprentice among adults 18-49 when the crime showis in original episodes, averaging a 9.9/24 in the demo.
Comparing all airings of The Apprentice against all airings of CSI, The Apprentice takes third, averaging 9.5/23 to CSI’s 9.3/23.
