Viewers like reruns during summer doldrums

So much for a public thirst for original material on TV in the summer.

Nielsen Media Research’s 10 most-watched shows last week featured eight reruns, a NASCAR race and one new show: Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie’s “The Simple Life 2.”

Fox has made a bid for summer viewership with a handful of original shows that began in June. But with the exception of “The Simple Life 2,” which ranked No. 9 last week, none was able to crack the Top 20 in the ratings; the next strongest was “Quintuplets,” at No. 42.

People even seem to prefer repeating reality. A rerun of “Fear Factor” on NBC drew more viewers than some of the network’s originals, “Last Comic Standing” or “For Love or Money.”

The weeks surrounding July 4 are generally the ones with the least television viewership of the year.

CBS won last week’s rating race, averaging 8 million viewers in prime time (5.4 rating, 11 share). NBC was second with 6.5 million viewers (4.4, 9), followed by Fox, 4.9 million, and ABC, 4.7 million (both 3.2 , 6); UPN, 2.3 million (1.6, 3); and the WB, 1.9 million (1.3, 3).

A ratings point represents 1,084,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.