NEW YORK — "American Idol" kept a tight grip on viewers again last week, maintaining its hold on first and second place as the stage was set for this week's finale.
With its huge "Idol" audience on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as strong performance from "House," which ranked sixth, Fox was runner-up for the week in prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Meanwhile, CBS marked its 10th consecutive weekly prime-time win.
In third place for the week, ABC scored with season finales for "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy."
Fourth-place NBC did well with its series finale for "Will & Grace," which vaulted to the top 10 from a season-to-date 59th place ranking.
For the week, CBS ruled with an average 12.0 million viewers (7.8 rating, 13 share), while Fox drew 11.0 million viewers (6.8 rating, 11 share). ABC had 10.5 million viewers (6.7 rating, 11 share), while NBC had 9.6 million viewers (6.3 rating, 10 share).
UPN had 2.7 million viewers (1.8 rating, 3 share), The WB had 2.3 million viewers (1.5 rating, 2 share), and the i network (formerly Pax TV) had 400,000 viewers (0.3 rating, 0 share).
Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision averaged 3.3 million viewers (1.8 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 760,000 viewers (0.5 rating, 1 share) and TeleFutura had 570,000 viewers (0.3 rating, 1 share).
In the evening-news derby, ABC regained its customary second-place status with 7.71 million viewers (5.5 rating, 11 share), as "CBS Evening News" dropped back to third-place after a week's reprieve. It drew 7.20 million viewers (5.1 rating, 11 share).
Holding the lead as usual, "NBC Nightly News" had 8.50 million viewers (5.9 rating, 13 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.
For the week of May 15-21, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: 1. "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 28.33 million; 2."American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 27.67 million; 3."CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (season finale), CBS, 25.40 million; 4."Desperate Housewives" (season finale), ABC, 24.23 million; 5."Grey's Anatomy" (Monday season-finale special), ABC, 22.50 million; 6."House," Fox, 22.38 million; 7."Without a Trace" (season finale), CBS, 19.81 million; 8."Will & Grace" (series finale), NBC, 18.43 million; 9."CSI: Miami" (season finale) CBS, 17.50 million; 10."ER" (season finale), NBC, 16.56 million.