Ratings: '60 Minutes,' election coverage top the week

The full ratings from last week, Nov. 3-9, are in and there’s a surprise at the top: 60 Minutes! Needless to say, the news magazine — which remains rather highly rated in its 41st season — hasn’t topped the weekly ratings in a long time. (You may recall that it was the No. 1 show on TV for five years in the 1980s and ’90s.) So what bumped it up so much this week? The answer lies in its Sunday football lead-in, which was a hotly anticipated showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts. Not that profiles of Ted Turner and Barack Obama’s political team (pictured) didn’t also attract some viewers. Either way, the show beat regular favorite CSI (No. 2), which has been battling election coverage for the top spot almost every week this fall.

The other big note of the week was the coverage of last Tuesday’s historic election of Barack Obama. The largest percentage of viewers watching the Presidential returns tuned into ABC, whose coverage rolled in at No. 10 for the week, with 13.2 million viewers. ABC’s Vote 2008 easily topped competition from NBC (12.5 million), CBS (7.4 million), and Fox (4.7 million). More interesting, however, is the number of folks who watched Obama defeat John McCain on cable — a whopping 47 percent of all viewers, in fact, with CNN’s 12.3 million viewers leading the way. (CNN’s sum almost equaled the audience for NBC’s coverage.) Rival Fox News, meanwhile, garnered 9 million viewers. And on a final election-related note, NBC’s SNL Presidential Bash continued the late-night comedy show’s ratings success: It nabbed 14.4 million viewers at No. 8 and bested its 2004 predecessor by 11 percent.

The full Top 20 for the week is after the jump.

1. 60 Minutes | CBS | 18.5 million
2. CSI | CBS | 18.2 million
3. Sunday Night Football | NBC | 17.6 million
4. Dancing With the Stars | ABC | 17.1 million
5. Desperate Housewives | ABC | 15.9 million
6. Dancing With the Stars | ABC | 15.8 million
7. Grey’s Anatomy | ABC | 15.7 million
8. SNL Presidential Bash | NBC | 14.4 million
9. Criminal Minds | CBS | 14.3 million
10. Vote 2008 | ABC | 13.2 million
11. Two and a Half Men | CBS | 12.8 million
12. CSI: Miami | CBS | 12.7 million
      Cold Case | CBS | 12.7 million
14. Decision ‘08 | NBC | 12.5 million
15. Survivor: Gabon | CBS | 12.0 million
16. CSI: NY | CBS | 11.8 million
17. The Amazing Race | CBS | 11.7 million
18. Numb3rs | CBS | 11.3 million
19. NCIS (R) | CBS | 11.2 million
20. Eleventh Hour | CBS | 10.9 million

One note off the chart: The 19th season of NBC’s Law & Order (No. 43) premiered to 7.9 million viewers, down by a sharp 41 percent from its previous season debut in January. Anticipation for the show may have been higher last year because the television schedule was rather bare at the time due to the writers strike. Plus, NBC hastily scheduled this season’s premiere just a couple weeks back, as a part of their revamped Wednesday night of crime fighting, which also now includes Life and Knight Rider.

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1. 60 Minutes | CBS | 18.5 million
2. CSI | CBS | 18.2 million
3. Sunday Night Football | NBC | 17.6 million
4. Dancing With the Stars | ABC | 17.1 million
5. Desperate Housewives | ABC | 15.9 million
6. Dancing With the Stars | ABC | 15.8 million
7. Grey’s Anatomy | ABC | 15.7 million
8. SNL Presidential Bash | NBC | 14.4 million
9. Criminal Minds | CBS | 14.3 million
10. Vote 2008 | ABC | 13.2 million
11. Two and a Half Men | CBS | 12.8 million
12. CSI: Miami | CBS | 12.7 million
      Cold Case | CBS | 12.7 million
14. Decision ‘08 | NBC | 12.5 million
15. Survivor: Gabon | CBS | 12.0 million
16. CSI: NY | CBS | 11.8 million
17. The Amazing Race | CBS | 11.7 million
18. Numb3rs | CBS | 11.3 million
19. NCIS (R) | CBS | 11.2 million
20. Eleventh Hour | CBS | 10.9 million

One note off the chart: The 19th season of NBC’s Law & Order (No. 43) premiered to 7.9 million viewers, down by a sharp 41 percent from its previous season debut in January. Anticipation for the show may have been higher last year because the television schedule was rather bare at the time due to the writers strike. Plus, NBC hastily scheduled this season’s premiere just a couple weeks back, as a part of their revamped Wednesday night of crime fighting, which also now includes Life and Knight Rider.

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Gossip Girl recap
The Hills recap
Dancing With the Stars recap