FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, "CRIMINAL MINDS" TOPS "LOST" IN VIEWERS

Sophomore Drama Also Matches Its Highest Adult 18-49 Rating Ever

"Criminal Minds" Finishes In Closest Competitive Position to the ABC Series in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54

"CSI: NY" Tops ABC and NBC Combined in Viewers and Matches Both Networks in Adults 18-49

CBS Is First in Viewers, Adults 25-54 (Tie) and Close Second in Adults 18-49 For the Night

CBS's sophomore sensation CRIMINAL MINDS continues to build momentum, beating a first-run "Lost" in viewers and matching its best adults 18-49 delivery, according to preliminary Nielsen live plus same day ratings for Wednesday, Nov. 1.

This marks the first time CRIMINAL MINDS has topped a first-run "Lost." It also becomes the first hour-long scripted program to score more viewers than the ABC hit series.

CRIMINAL MINDS was first at 9:00 PM in households (10.7/16), viewers (16.74m, +620,000 viewers ahead of "Lost's" first 60 minutes), second in adults 25-54 (6.3/14) and adults 18-49 (4.9/12). Compared to last week, CRIMINAL MINDS was up +2% in adults 25-54 (from 6.2/14) and +11% in adults 18-49 (from 4.4/11).

In households, this is CRIMINAL MINDS' fourth consecutive win in the time period and its largest margin of victory (+0.9 rating point).

CRIMINAL MINDS also achieved its closest competitive position in both adults 25-54 (-1.3) and adults 18-49 (-1.7) to a first-run episode of "Lost".

If the ratings hold, this matches the best Wednesday adults 18-49 rating ever for CRIMINAL MINDS, its second best Wednesday adults 25-54 delivery (-0.1 behind 9/27/06's episode) and matches the second best viewer delivery of a Wednesday episode of CRIMINAL MINDS (tied with 10/11/06 and -30,000 behind last week's episode).

At 10:00 PM, CSI: NY was first in households (10.6/18), viewers (16.48m), adults 25-54 (6.5/17) and adults 18-49 (5.3/15). CSI: NY topped NBC and ABC combined by +8% in households (vs. 9.8/17), +2% in adults 25-54 (vs. 6.4/17), tied in adults 18-49 and had a +2.67m viewer lead (vs. 13.81m combined, +19%).

At 8:00 PM, JERICHO was second in households (6.1/09), viewers (9.96m), adults 25-54 (4.0/10) and adults 18-49 (3.1/08).

For the night, CBS was first in households (9.1/14), viewers (14.39m), tied for first in adults 25-54 (5.6/14) and second in adults 18-49 (4.4/12).

Final Wednesday ratings will be available this afternoon.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: What follows is the afternoon update with the final national Nielsen ratings.]

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, "CRIMINAL MINDS" TOPS "LOST" IN VIEWERS

Sophomore Drama Also Posts Its Highest Adult 18-49 Rating Ever

"Criminal Minds" Finishes In Closest Competitive Position to the ABC Series in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54

"CSI: NY" Tops ABC and NBC Combined in Viewers and Adults 18-49

CBS Is First in Viewers, Adults 25-54 (Tie) and Close Second in Adults 18-49 For the Night

CBS's sophomore sensation CRIMINAL MINDS continues to build momentum, beating a first-run "Lost" in viewers in both half-hours as well as posting its best adults 18-49 delivery, according to final Nielsen live plus same day ratings for Wednesday, Nov. 1.

This marks the first time CRIMINAL MINDS has topped a first-run "Lost." This is also the first time CRIMINAL MINDS topped "Lost" in both half-hours in viewers, after winning the 9:30-10:00 PM half-hour for the past three weeks. It also becomes the first hour-long scripted program to score more viewers than the ABC hit series.

CRIMINAL MINDS was first at 9:00 PM in households (10.8/16), viewers (16.97m, +900,000 viewers ahead of "Lost"), second in adults 25-54 (6.4/14) and adults 18-49 (5.0/12). Compared to last week, CRIMINAL MINDS was up +1% in viewers (from 16.77m), +3% in adults 25-54 (from 6.2/14) and +14% in adults 18-49 (from 4.4/11).

In households, this is CRIMINAL MINDS' fourth consecutive win in the time period and its largest margin of victory (+1.0 rating points).

CRIMINAL MINDS also achieved its closest competitive position in both adults 25-54 (-1.1) and adults 18-49 (-1.6) to a first-run episode of "Lost".

This is the best Wednesday adults 18-49 rating and viewer delivery ever for CRIMINAL MINDS and matched its best Wednesday adults 25-54 delivery.

At 10:00 PM, CSI: NY was first in households (10.6/18), viewers (16.64m), adults 25-54 (6.5/17) and adults 18-49 (5.4/15). CSI: NY topped NBC and ABC combined by +10% in households (vs. 9.6/17), +3% in adults 25-54 (vs. 6.3/16), +2% in adults 18-49 (vs. 5.3/15) and had a +3.01m viewer lead (vs. 13.63m combined, +22%).

At 8:00 PM, JERICHO was second in households (6.0/09), viewers (9.87m), adults 25-54 (4.0/10) and adults 18-49 (3.0/08).

For the night, CBS was first in households (9.2/15), viewers (14.49m), tied for first in adults 25-54 (5.6/14, with ABC) and second in adults 18-49 (4.5/12, -0.2 behind ABC).