CBS’s “NCIS” and “The Mentalist” were, respectively, the number one- and two-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Tuesday, October 14, 2008.
“NCIS” drew an average audience of just over 18 million viewers, while “The Mentalist” drew roughly 14.9 million average viewers.
ABC’s "Dancing With The Stars" rounded out the top three, with just over 14.8 million average viewers.
The season premiere of ABC's "Eli Stone," which drew almost 8.4 million average viewers, also made the top ten.
| RANK | PROGRAM | NETWORK | VIEWERS (P2+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NCIS | CBS | 18,038,000 |
| 2 | MENTALIST, THE | CBS | 14,935,000 |
| 3 | DANCING W/STARS RESULTS | ABC | 14,816,000 |
| 4 | HOUSE | FOX | 13,269,000 |
| 5 | WITHOUT A TRACE | CBS | 11,051,000 |
| 6 | LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 9,512,000 |
| 7 | FRINGE | FOX | 9,157,000 |
| 8 | ELI STONE | ABC | 8,394,000 |
| 9 | BIGGEST LOSER 6 | NBC | 7,637,000 |
| 10 | FUEGO EN LA SANGRE TUE | UNI | 5,188,000 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (October 14, 2008). | |||
Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 14.7 million viewers, while FOX took second place with almost 11.3 million average viewers. ABC and NBC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 9.5 million and 8.3 million average viewers, respectively. Univision followed in fifth place with an average audience of roughly 4.4 million viewers.
