FRIENDS BEAT SURVIVOR AGAIN!!!!

Go to Zap2it.com for more info, but all I know is that NBC beat CBS once again last night. "Friends" pulled in about 24 million viewers while "Survivor 3" took 18 million viewers. "CSI" is growing in popularity a little, but I think it still lost to "Will and Grace" and "Just Shoot Me." The most watched show of the night was ER, which pulled in 26 million viewers for the return of Sherry Stringfield.

Here are the preliminary numbers from Zap-2-it:

NBC Holds Steady on Thursday Against 'Survivor' Fri, Oct 19, 2001 10:07 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Fast National Ratings for Thursday, October 18, 2001

"Survivor: Africa" saw a drop-off from last week's premiere while "CSI" grew, but it was NBC that took the night with a 13.3 rating/21 share. CBS was second, 10.5/15, followed by FOX's 6.6/10 and ABC's 6.1/9. In the metered markets, UPN took a 4.5/7 (4.7/7) and The WB pulled a 4.0/6 (3.7/5). Among adults 18-49, NBC dominated the night with a 10.0/24, followed by CBS' 6.5/16. FOX was third with a 3.1/7, while ABC managed only a 2.8/7.

"Friends" kicked of the night at 8 p.m., 15.9/25, drawing 24 million viewers. The show also dominated the 18-49 ratings with an 11.9/31. At 8:30 p.m., "Inside Schwartz" returned to the schedule and saw a major drop, slipping to a 9.9/15 and losing nearly 10 million viewers from its lead-in. At 9 p.m., "Will & Grace" rebounded slightly, 10.5/6, coming in second among households and viewers. "Just Shoot Me" pulled a 9.2/14 at 9:30 p.m., leading into the night's most-watched show, "ER." The medical drama, which featured the return of Sherry Stringfield, pulled a 17.3/28 for the hour, pulling over 26 million viewers. The show also dominated the 18-49 numbers, with a 12.9/31.

The second episode of "Survivor: Africa" slipped slightly from the nationals from last week, taking an 11.2/17 for the hour (13.2/19 last week). The show pulled an average of 18.9 million viewers (23.8 million last week) and had a 7.5/19 among adults 18-49. As is normally the case for the show, it showed a dramatic jump from the first half-hour to the second, going from a 10.3/16 to a 12.1/18. At 9 p.m. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was the network's biggest hit, taking a 13.9/21 and 22.7 million viewers. The show also won the hour in the 18-49 demo, 8.6/20. At 10 p.m., "The Agency" was hurt by "ER's" new episode, and slipped to third in the timeslot with a 6.5/10. The show's 18-49 number of 3.4/8 and 9.5 million total viewers were good for second place in the hour, however. The main reason for the show's placement was the loss of nearly 2 million viewers from the first half-hour to the second.

Sammi