CBS enjoys a big week in ratings competition

In what’s shaping up as a sorry summer for the broadcast networks, CBS executives were the only ones smiling last week.

The network had the seven most popular shows, posted a rare win among advertiser-coveted 18- to 49-year-old viewers and was the only one of the six chief broadcasters with a bigger audience than last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Reruns of the “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” series topped the ratings, “60 Minutes” vaulted into the top 10 with its John Kerry and John Edwards interview, and CBS also saw a strong debut for the fifth edition of “The Amazing Race.”

Overall, CBS was up 11 percent over the same week last year. NBC was down 12 percent, ABC 15 percent and Fox 13 percent.

For the week, CBS averaged 8.8 million viewers (5.8 rating, 11 share), NBC had 6.9 million (4.7, 9), ABC 5.1 million (3.4, 6), Fox 4.5 million (2.9, 5), UPN 2.5 million (1.7, 3) and the WB 2.1 million (1.4, 3).

A ratings point represents 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 108.4 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

The top 10 shows: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 14.8 million viewers; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 14 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 12.4 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 12.3 million; “Everybody Loves Raymond,” CBS, 12.2 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 12 million; “Cold Case,” CBS, 10.8 million; “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 10.7 million; “Law & Order,” NBC, 10.6 million; “The Amazing Race,” CBS, 10.3 million.