CSI Beats Trump; NBC Beats CBS

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In a battle of titans on Thursday night, an original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation trumped The Apprentice, beating the Donald Trump reality show in households, viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54.

The numbers are approximate because of The Apprentice’s 8:44 p.m. start.

According to Nielsen preliminary affiliate-based ratings, CSI beat The Donald in viewers, 29.6 million to 18 million. In adults 18-49, CSI triumphed with a 10.7 rating/25 share vs. Apprentice’s 9.2/22.

The good news for NBC, however, is that The Apprentice’s ratings remained stable even against an original CSI. Even with the one-two punch of Survivor: All-Stars and CSI, CBS couldn’t beat NBC in the key 18-49 demographic for the night; NBC also featured a super-sized Friends episode.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.