Primetime Ratings: The Office, Scrubs Propel NBC

NBC won the Nielsen Media Research ratings in the 18-49 demo Thursday night thanks to sitcoms The Office and Scrubs.

NBC averaged a 3.4 rating/10 share in the demo, led by new episodes of The Office (4.9/13) and Scrubs (3.7/10). ER also won its 10 p.m.-11 p.m. time period with a 3.1/9.

CBS was second with a 3/9, led by Survivor (3.8/12).

Fox was third with a 2.8/8 in the demo, topped by Don't Forget the Lyrics, which built from a 2.9/6 in its first half hour to a 3.5/9 in its second.

ABC got little help from back-to-back repeats of Lost. The first episode actually lost out to The CW's Smallville to come in last in the 8 p.m.-9 p.m. time period with a 1.1/3. ABC's top show was the finale of Eli Stone, but that show only managed a 2/6 for last place from 10 p.m.-11 p.m. behind both ER and a repeat of Without a Trace on CBS.

The CW was fifth with a 1.1/3, led by Smallville's 1.4/4.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.