"ER" Beats "CSI" Posted: December 16, 2001 @ 3:10 PM C Source: Reuters NBC hospital series ``ER'' bid farewell to
original cast member Eriq La Salle as it easily fended off a ratings
challenge from CBS hit crime show ``CSI'' in the first showdown between
U.S. television's top two dramas. ``ER,'' the No. 1 drama on TV for
eight seasons, drew a hefty 28.8 million viewers Thursday night, its
biggest audience this fall, with a highly promoted episode that marked
La Salle's departure as the brooding surgeon, Dr. Peter Benton, ratings
figures showed Friday. It was also the last night for series co-star and
La Salle's on-screen girlfriend, actress Michael Michele, who played the
resident ``ER'' pediatrician Dr. Cleo Finch for three years. Airing
opposite ``ER'' -- and outside its normal 9 p.m. time slot -- ``CSI:
Crime Scene Investigation (news - Y! TV)'' drew 17.1 million viewers
(11.6 million fewer than ``ER''), the smallest audience this fall for a
fresh episode of CBS's top-rated show. ``CSI'' has been averaging just
under 23 million viewers this season. Thursday's outcome marked a
decisive victory for ``ER'' over ''CSI'' in their first head-to-head
battle with original episodes. But CBS officials said ``CSI'' gave
``ER'' a better run for its money than any other first-run drama that
has ever gone up against the hospital series. ``ER'' has reigned as TV's
most-watched drama every year since its debut in 1994, while ``CSI,''
now in its second season, has become the No. 2 drama in prime time, and
the No. 3 show overall after NBC's ``Friends'' and ``ER.'' Officials at
both networks noted that in going against ``ER'' at 10 p.m. instead of
airing in its normal 9 o'clock hour, ''CSI'' lacked the strong viewer
``lead-in'' provided by the 8 p.m. reality hit ``Survivor: Africa.''
``ER'' also enjoyed a decided advantage from La Salle's much-ballyhooed
departure. ``If you put 'Survivor' on at 9 p.m. and 'CSI' at 10 o'clock
with normal original episodes of 'CSI' and 'ER,' I think you would have
seen a closer race,'' one NBC official said. For its part, CBS insisted
it wasn't looking to pick a fight with ``ER.'' ``We knew we weren't
going to beat 'ER' with an episode where Eriq La Salle is leaving the
show -- that wasn't going to happen,'' one CBS executive said. Moving
``CSI'' to 10 p.m. was intended instead to give the finale of CBS's
freshman reality show ``Amazing Race'' the benefit of a
bigger-than-usual boost from ``Survivor,'' which has averaged nearly 20
million viewers this season. And CBS said its gambit paid off, as
``Amazing Race'' drew its biggest audience to date, 14 million viewers.
``We have another installment (of ``Amazing Race'') coming, and we
wanted to expose 'Amazing Race' to as big an audience as possible,'' a
CBS spokesman said. ``And the numbers show it was successful.''
