MUMBAI: CBS has announced that it has come out on top among US networks for the season. According to the most current Nielsen ratings data, Fox will finish as number one in the 18-49 demographic thanks mainly to ‘American Idol‘.

CBS, which has a JV with Reliance Broadcast Network in India, has come out on top for nine in the past 10 years. This year the network averaged 11.78 million viewers each week, up by one per cent over last year. This is around three million more viewers than Fox.

In the 18-49 demographic Fox finished the season with a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating and 9 share, according to Nielsen, down nine per cent from a 3.5/10 last season, when it carried the Super Bowl. NBC aired the game this year.

In this demographic Fox placed seven per cent ahead of CBS, which averaged a 3.0/8, up three per cent from a 2.9/8 last year. 132 million votes were cast for Fox‘s music based competition show ‘American Idol‘.

CBS is first in adults 25-54. In a statement CBS has said that it will deliver year-to-year increases among viewers on five nights (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday) while finishing even on Tuesday and on four nights in adults 18-49 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) and even on Friday.

CBS also said that it has the season‘s number one new series in viewers ‘Person Of Interest‘ for the third time in four years and the number one new programme in adults 18-49 ‘2 Broke Girls‘ for the second consecutive year.

CBS says that it had the nine of the 10 dramas including ‘NCIS‘, ‘The Mentalist‘ and ‘Blue Bloods‘. It had eight of the top 10 comedies including ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ and ‘Two And A Half Men‘.

NBC says that it managed to get a 2.5 rating and a 9 per cent gain in adult 18-49 rating versus last season‘s 2.3. This it says is the biggest increase compared to ABC, CBS and Fox.

NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said, "Not since the 2003-2004 season has NBC been out of fourth place in 18-49 viewers, so we‘re thrilled to rank in third place for this season. We‘ve taken some key first steps towards rebuilding primetime, including a great second cycle for ‘The Voice‘ and promising first seasons for shows like ‘Smash‘ and ‘Grimm‘.

"With a largely new staff in place and a strong development season under our belts - not to mention some big promotional opportunities presented by this summer‘s London Olympics and two nights of ‘The Voice‘ in the fall - we‘re in a very good position to build on the progress of this past season. We‘re genuinely excited about the future."