CBS stays atop Nielsen ratings

CBS maintained its winning ways for a 12th week, eclipsing its rivals in the ratings and building on its unbroken record this television season.

The network claimed six of the top 10 shows last week, with “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” in first place with a huge viewership of 30.9 million, according to Nielsen Media Research.

“Without a Trace” was second.

The season finish for “Survivor: Guatemala” (the eighth cycle for this durable reality series) took third place, drawing the biggest audience for a “Survivor” finale since “Survivor: All Stars” in May 2004.

A regular “Survivor” episode ranked fourth, with “60 Minutes” coming in fifth.

NBC’s top show was “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” in sixth place.

ABC’s red-hot hospital drama “Grey’s Anatomy” was seventh, while the network’s umpteenth repeat of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” ranked eighth.

For the week, CBS averaged 14 million viewers in prime time (8.8 household rating, 14 share).

ABC lagged behind with 9.6 million viewers (6.0 rating, 10 share), followed by NBC, 9.4 million (6.2 rating, 10 share); Fox, 5.7 million (3.5 rating, 6 share); UPN, 3.6 million (2.4 rating, 4 share); and the WB, 3.1 million (2.1 rating, 3 share).

A ratings point represents 1,102,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 110.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.