Fox tops weekly ratings with Super Bowl coverage

A television week dominated by Fox’s airing of the Super Bowl also resulted in a historic low for NBC.

The network dropped to fourth place for the season among viewers aged 18 to 49, the first time it has ever been so low this late in a TV season. That’s the demographic NBC most cares about because it’s the audience the bulk of advertisers pays to reach.

NBC has won among this group for four years in a row and eight of the past nine years and as a result earns more than its rivals every spring when advertisers lock in commercial space for the upcoming season.

So far this season CBS leads among these young viewers and has a commanding lead among viewers of all ages. ABC is second, and Fox moved past NBC this week on the strength of the Super Bowl.

Among all viewers, NBC is a close third to ABC.

NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks noted that NBC has a strong new hit in “Medium” and is optimistic about such future series as “Law & Order: Trial By Jury” and “The Office.”

Without an unexpected hit, NBC could have trouble climbing out of fourth. CBS has the most dominant day-to-day schedule, ABC has the Academy Awards and buzzed-about hits like “Desperate Housewives,” and Fox has four months’ worth of “American Idol” episodes to run.

Fox also is seeing some promising numbers for the medical drama “House,” seen by more people last week than the more-heralded “24.”

Thanks to the Super Bowl, Fox averaged 28.8 million viewers in prime time last week (14.9 rating, 23 share). CBS had 10.5 million (7.0, 11), NBC and ABC both averaged 9.2 million (6.2, 10 and 6.0, 10, respectively), the WB had 3.4 million (2.3, 4) and UPN 2.9 million (2.0, 3).

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: “Super Bowl XXXIX,” Fox, 86.1 million viewers; “Super Bowl Postgame,” Fox, 50.1 million; “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 28.5 million; “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 26.2 million; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 25 million; “The Simpsons,” Fox, 23.1 million; “Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion,” ABC, 19.9 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 19.3 million; “ER,” NBC, 18.1 million; “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS, 17.6 million.