CBS won the national November sweeps battle -- just barely.
The network averaged a 9.5 rating and 13.7 million viewers to second-place NBC's 9.4 average and 13.5 million viewers. ABC was third with an 8.8 (12.8 million viewers); Fox averaged a 7.7 (11.8 million viewers); the WB a 3.4 (4.8 million viewers) and UPN a 2.0 (2.7 million viewers).However, among viewers 18-49 -- those most valued by advertisers -- NBC was first and CBS fourth. NBC averaged 7.3 million viewers 18-49; Fox averaged 7.1 million; ABC averaged 6.4 million; CBS averaged 5 million; the WB averaged 2.4 million; and UPN averaged 1.4 million.
There was lots of bad news for the networks, however, as their total viewership continued to slide. CBS was down 10 percent from November 1997; ABC declined 9 percent; NBC was down 8 percent; Fox lost 4 percent and UPN dropped a whopping 45 percent.
Only the WB showed any improvement, with its ratings up 8 percent. -- Scott D. Pierce