NEW YORK (AP) - It only seems like ABC and Fox were impersonating cable networks last week.
The two broadcasters had a depressing finish in the Nielsen Co.'s ratings report. Combined, their average viewership in prime time didn't match what top-rated CBS had. CBS has won every week but one in the current TV season.
The most-watched show on ABC last week was the movie "The Santa Clause 3" and on Fox it was "Hell's Kitchen." Neither show ranked among Nielsen's 30 most popular shows of the week. Both even trailed two editions of Univision's prime-time telenovela, "Soy Tu Duena."
Holiday shows and repeats dominated prime time last week.
Football is NBC's saving grace. Sunday's tight NFL matchup between Green Bay and New England was easily the week's most popular thing on television, beating second-place "NCIS" by nearly 5 million viewers.
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Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Dec. 13-19. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
NFL Football: Green Bay at New England, NBC, 24.17 million.
"NCIS," CBS, 19.87 million.
"60 Minutes," CBS, 18.73 million.
"Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 17.11 million.
"NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 16.82 million.
"Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.95 million.
"Criminal Minds," CBS, 13.77 million.
"Survivor: Nicaragua Finale," CBS, 13.59 million.
"The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 13.24 million.
"Survivor: Nicaragua," CBS, 12.32 million.
"Mike & Molly," CBS, 11.96 million.
"The Good Wife," CBS, 11.84 million.
"Football Night in America," NBC, 11.65 million.
"Survivor: Nicaragua Reunion," CBS, 11.19 million.
"The Biggest Loser," NBC, 11.05 million.
"Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 10.91 million.
"(Bleep) My Dad Says," CBS, 10.3 million.
"The Defenders," CBS, 10.29 million.
"The Mentalist," CBS, 10.1 million.
"How I Met Your Mother," CBS, 9.7 million.
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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is owned by CBS Corp. CW is a joint venture of Warner Bros. Entertainment and CBS Corp. Fox and My Network TV are units of News Corp. NBC and Telemundo are owned by General Electric Co. ION Television is owned by ION Media Networks. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. Azteca America is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V.
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