Split Leadership on Friday

CBS MOST-WATCHED; ABC NO. 1 AMONG ADULTS 18-49

It was a Friday of uneventful split leadership, with CBS the most-watched network and ABC tops among adults 18-49. The return of Undercover Boss remains a positive on CBS, with a dominant 8.98 million viewers and a 1.7 rating/6 share among adults 18-49 in the 8 p.m. hour (according to the fast affiliate results from Nielsen). And week three of competing Malibu Country with Reba McEntire on ABC lost more steam. But the retention at 8:30 p.m. out of relocated Last Man Standing is still positive at 94 percent in total viewers (6.66 million vs. 7.09 million) and 93 percent in the demo (1.3/ 4 vs. 1.4/ 5).

Elsewhere, Shark Tank on ABC led the evening among adults 18-49 with a 1.9/ 6 in the demo at 9 p.m., while competing CSI on CBS was No. 1 overall in total viewers with 9.50 million. CSI led into 10 p.m. special, We Will Always Love You: A Grammy Salute to Whitney Houston, which was nothing special. The season-finale of America’s Next Top Model: College Edition went out with a whimper on The CW. And Fox’s pairing of Kitchen Nightmares and soon-to-conclude Fringe is a losing combination. As for 20/20 versus Dateline at 10 p.m., the ratings ball was in favor of 20/20 this week.

Click on the following for the fast affiliate results for Friday, November 15 broken out my network and by program (by half-hour): http://tinyurl.com/adfsxbw

Update (Monday 11/19/12 8:15 p.m. EST): Broadcast and select cable final national ratings on the forum.