Nielsens: Two hot doctor shows got a healthy dose of ratings last week

NEW YORK -- Scalpels and damaged doctors at 10 paces: an interesting duel of medical shows is emerging for the second half of the television season.

ABC's steamy "Grey's Anatomy" attracted 25.8 million viewers last week, its already large audience having swelled in recent weeks since Nielsen Media Research began counting the viewing habits of college students away from home.

But it wasn't even the top-rated doctor drama of the week. That distinction went to Fox's "House," seen by 26 million people two days earlier. "House" has the formidable advantage of following "American Idol" on Fox's schedule.

Despite having none of TV's top four shows, CBS still earned the distinction of the most popular network last week, averaging 12.3 million viewers (7.8 rating, 13 share). Fox had 12.2 million (7.2, 11), ABC had 9.6 million (6.1, 10), NBC had 8.6 million (5.6, 9), the CW had 3.4 million (2.2, 3) and the i network had 750,000 (0.5, 1).

For the week of Feb. 12-18, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 31.2 million; "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 28.89 million; "House," Fox, 25.99 million; "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 25.76 million; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 22.71 million; "CSI: Miami," CBS, 19.9 million; "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 18.51 million; "Daytona Winners Circle," Fox, 16.4 million; "Survivor: Fiji," CBS, 16.08 million; "Deal or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 16.07 million.

---

ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. CBS is a division of CBS Corp. Fox is a unit of News Corp. NBC is owned by General Electric Co. Telemundo is owned by General Electric. TeleFutura is a division of Univision. The i network is owned by ION Media Networks.

---

On the Net:

http://www.nielsenmedia.com