CBS CONCLUDES THE TELEVISION YEAR WITH EIGHT OF THE WEEK'S TOP 10 SCRIPTED PROGRAMS

The Premiere of "Survivor: Nicaragua" Wins its New Wednesday Time Period in Key Demos with Increases over Last Fall's Premiere

The Finale of "Big Brother" Posts Gains Versus Last Summer

Two-Hour Marathon of "The Big Bang Theory" on Thursday Wins Every Half Hour in Viewers and Key Demos

CBS had eight of the week's top 10 scripted programs, the premiere of SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA won its new time period in key demos, the finale of BIG BROTHER was up from last summer's finale and THE BIG BANG THEORY won every half hour of its two-hour Thursday marathon, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Sept. 19, the final week of the 2009-2010 television year.

CBS had eight of the week's top 10 scripted series: NCIS; THE BIG BANG THEORY 9:00 PM SPECIAL; THE BIG BANG THEORY 9:30 PM SPECIAL; NCIS: LOS ANGELES; THE BIG BANG THEORY 8:30 PM SPECIAL; TWO AND A HALF MEN; THE MENTALIST and THE BIG BANG THEORY 8:00 PM SPECIAL.

The premiere of SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA won its new Wednesday 8:00 PM hour in viewers, adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34, while the BIG BROTHER season finale finished in the top 10 in adults 25-54, adults 18-49 and adults 18-34. Both reality series posted year-to-year increases.

THE BIG BANG THEORY's two-hour marathon on Thursday won every half-hour in households, viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 from 8:00-10:00 PM.

For the week in viewers: CBS (7.95m), NBC (8.92m), ABC (5.20m) and FOX (3.93m). For the summer in viewers, CBS (6.51m) led NBC (6.12m), ABC (5.63m) and FOX (5.09m).

For the week in households: CBS (5.0/09), NBC (5.5/10), ABC (3.3/06) and FOX (2.4/04). For the summer, CBS finished first (4.2/08), ahead of NBC (3.8/07), ABC (3.5/06) and FOX (3.1/06).

For the week in key demographics, CBS was second in both adults 25-54 (2.8/08) and adults 18-49 (2.2/07).

CBS Weekly Highlights:

? SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA SPECIAL (S) won its time slot in adults 25-54 (5.2/14), adults 18-49 (4.0/13) and adults 18-34 (2.6/09); it was second in households (6.8/11) and viewers (12.23m). SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA SPECIAL was the night's #1 program in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.

-- Compared to last September's first episode of SURVIVOR: SAMOA (on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009), SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA SPECIAL was up +13% in adults 25-54 (from 4.6/13), +11% in adults 18-49 (from 3.6/11), +8% in adults 18-34 (from 2.4/08), even in households and added +560,000 viewers (from 11.67m, +5%).

? BIG BROTHER WEDNESDAY was tied for first in adults 18-34 (2.4/07, with NBC) and second in households (4.5/08), viewers (7.86m), adults 25-54 (3.5/09) and adults 18-49 (2.9/08). This was the best rating for BIG BROTHER 12 on any night this season in adults 25-54 and matches its best adults 18-49 performance this season.

-- Compared to last year's season finale (on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009), BIG BROTHER WEDNESDAY was up +3% in adults 25-54 (from 3.4/08), +4% in adults 18-49 (from 2.8/08), even in adults 18-34 and added +70,000 viewers (from 7.79m, +1%).

? For this season of BIG BROTHER on CBS.com, the average visitor spent 11.9 minutes per session, +31% greater than the same period last season. In terms of video streaming, BIG BROTHER attracted more than 7.7 million full-episode streams this season, +10% more than 2009. [Source: Web, CBS Interactive; Video, Omniture]

-- On Thursday, CBS was first in households (5.1/09), viewers (7.93m), adults 25-54 (3.0/08) and adults 18-49 (2.2/07). CBS won every half-hour in households, viewers and adults 25-54. THE BIG BANG THEORY marathon (8:00-10:00 PM) won every half-hour in adults 18-49.

? THE BIG BANG THEORY 8:00 PM (R) (S) was first in households (4.7/09), viewers (7.26m), adults 25-54 (2.7/09) and adults 18-49 (2.0/07).

? THE BIG BANG THEORY 8:30 PM (R) (S) was first in households (5.2/09), viewers (8.13m), adults 25-54 (3.3/09) and adults 18-49 (2.4/08).

? THE BIG BANG THEORY 9:00 PM (R) (S) was first in households (5.3/09), viewers (8.45m), adults 25-54 (3.5/09) and adults 18-49 (2.7/08). THE BIG BANG THEORY 9:00 PM was the night's #1 program in viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49.

? THE BIG BANG THEORY 9:30 PM (R) (S) was first in households (5.3/09), viewers (8.37m), adults 25-54 (3.4/09) and adults 18-49 (2.6/08).

Top CBS programs of the week: #5 60 MINUTES (R) (an average of 13.54m viewers), #7 SURVIVOR: NICARAGUA SPECIAL (S) (12.23m), #9 NCIS (R) (10.40m), #10 UNDERCOVER BOSS SPECIAL (R) (S) (8.71m), #11 THE BIG BANG THEORY 9:00 PM SPECIAL (R) (S) (8.45m), #12 THE BIG BANG THEORY 9:30PM SPECIAL (R) (S) (8.37m), #13 NCIS: LOS ANGELES (R) (8.23m), #14 THE BIG BANG THEORY 8:30 PM SPECIAL (R) (S) (8.13m), #15 UNDERCOVER BOSS (R) (8.09m), #16 BIG BROTHER 12 WEDNESDAY (7.86m), #17 TWO AND A HALF MEN (R) (7.77m), #18 THE MENTALIST (R) (7.68m), #22 THE BIG BANG THEORY 8:00 PM SPECIAL (R) (S) (7.26m), #23 THE BIG BANG THEORY (R) (7.14m), #27 CSI: MIAMI-SUNDAY (R) (6.41m) and #30 FLASHPOINT (6.20m).