After a football-aided boffo
premiere on Sunday, "Numb3rs" moved into its own time period
on Friday night and the math-dominated procedural proved it was more
than just a flash in the pan.
Overall, CBS won the night
with a 7.9 rating/13 share, followed by NBC's 6.5/11. ABC was third
with a 5.5/9. FOX was well off in fourth with a 2.6/4. On the netlet
side, The WB was fifth with a 2.0/3, better than the 1.3/2 for UPN.
CBS also won
among adults 18-49, doing a 3.6 rating in the demographic
that flies advertisers to the moon. NBC was second with
a 2.8 rating. ABC stayed in third with a 1.8 rating, though
FOX's 1.7 rating and the 1.3 rating for The WB were close
behind. UPN trailed with a 0.7 rating.
NBC started the night in
first the with 6.9/12 for "Dateline NBC." CBS' "Joan
of Arcadia" was second, edging the 5.2/9 averaged by two episodes
of "8 Simple Rules" on ABC. A pair of episodes of "The
Bernie Mac Show" averaged a 2.9/5 for FOX, topping the 1.7/3
for "Enterprise" on UPN. The WB was sixth with "What
I Like About You" and the unheralded series finale of "Grounded
for Life."
At 9 p.m., CBS
moved into first with the 8.2/14 for a repeat of "CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation." "Dateline NBC" dropped to second
for the hour, still better than the 4.7/8 for "Hope & Faith"
and "Less than Perfect" on ABC. FOX's "Jonny Zero"
had a 2.3/4 in its latest entry. The WB's "Reba" and "Blue
Collar TV" averaged a 2.4/4 for fifth. UPN was last with an
encore of "The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott."
CBS closed the night with a strong
9.8/17 for "Numb3rs," by far the evening's most watched
program. ABC's "20/20" took second, as NBC's "Medical
Investigation" slumped to third with a 4.8/8.