TV Ratings: 'Dancing With the Stars' finale sashays to weekly win
Dec 3, 2008, 05:36 PM | by Tanner Stransky
Categories: TV Biz, TV Ratings
During the week of Thanksgiving, ABC had one thing in particular to be thankful for: Dancing With the Stars. The Monday competition installment and the season finale of the stalwart reality competition series, which saw TV personality Brooke Burke beat ex-NFLer Warren Sapp, packed a one-two ratings punch for the week of Nov. 24-30. Truly, though, much of the other highly rated shows â most notably Thursday night staples Grey's Anatomy and CSI, both of which could have knocked Dancing off its ratings throne had they aired new episodes â were in repeats because of the holiday.
CBS's 60 Minutes is still attracting quite the crowd, as it popped up at No. 3 with 18.6 million viewers who tuned in to see Anderson Cooper take a dip with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. One thing is for sure: People will always have an appetite for Phelps â and Cooper, for that matter.
The rest of the Top 20 was pretty much the same as usual: CBS crime procedurals, ABC's Desperate Housewives and Samantha Who? (which was buoyed by Dancing's huge numbers), Fox's House, and CBS's Two and a Half Men. ABC also scored with two specials: First, Barbara Walters' Thanksgiving eve interview with Barack Obama showed up at No. 14 with 11.6 million viewers, while a rerun of the classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving rolled in at No. 17 with 11.1 million viewers. The full Top 20 with all the details is after the jump.
1. Dancing With the Stars | ABC | 21.1 million
2. Dancing With the Stars | ABC | 20.6 million
3. 60 Minutes | CBS | 18.6 million
4. NCIS | CBS | 18.1 million
5. The Mentalist | CBS | 15.9 million
Sunday Night Football | NBC | 15.9 million
7. Desperate Housewives | ABC | 15.8 million
8. Two and a Half Men | CBS | 15.0 million
9. CSI: Miami | CBS | 14.3 million
10. Criminal Minds | CBS | 14.1 million
11. House | Fox | 12.9 million
12. CSI: NY | CBS | 12.3 million
13. The Amazing Race | CBS | 11.8 million
14. Barbara Walters Special | ABC | 11.6 million
15. Cold Case | CBS | 11.5 million
16. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | ABC | 11.3 million
17. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving | ABC | 11.1 million
18. Samantha Who? | ABC | 10.7 million
CSI (R) | CBS | 10.7 million
20. Without a Trace | CBS | 10.4 million
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