Sitcoms barely make ripple in Nielsens

Viewers aren’t doing much laughing these days – at least intentionally.

Only two of Nielsen Media Research’s top 30 programs last week were situation comedies and one of them – CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond” – ends its network run next month. The other: “Two and a Half Men,” which follows “Raymond” on Monday nights.

The top-rated non-CBS sitcom last week, ABC’s “According to Jim,” was No. 40. Once the gold standard, NBC’s Thursday comedies finished even lower: “Will & Grace” (No. 45) and “Joey” (No. 55).

It was another dominant week for CBS, which averaged 12.5 million viewers (8.1 rating, 13 share). Fox was second with 9.2 million viewers (5.7, 9) and won among the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic. ABC averaged 8.7 million viewers (5.6, 9), NBC 8.4 million (5.7, 10), the WB 3.3 million (2.2, 4) and UPN 3.2 million (2.1, 4).

A ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

The top 10 shows for the week ending Sunday: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 27 million viewers; “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 24.1 million; “Desperate Housewives,” ABC, 23.9 million; “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 22.7 million; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 20.1 million; “Survivor: Palau,” CBS, 19.3 million; “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 17.9 million; “House,” Fox, 17.5 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 17.1 million; “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” ABC, 17.1 million.