Weekly Ratings: NBC stays on top with 'Talent'

NBC narrowly managed to hold its broadcast lead post-Olympics last week thanks to resuming its reality hit "America's Got Talent" and winning coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

Edging out repeat-driven Fox by a tenth of a point, NBC (averaging 5.9 million viewers, 1.7 adults 18-49 rating and a 5 share) led broadcast competitors in the adult demo and total viewers for the week ending Aug. 31 with "Talent" the highest-rated show.

The return of "Talent" to a new 8 p.m. slot on Tuesday and Wednesday was not without some erosion. The show hit a summer-season low on both nights (Tuesday: 11.1 million, 3.1/9). The return of "Deal or No Deal" (11 million, 2.8/9) also fared well, hitting a six-month high. The debut of new reality series "America's Toughest Jobs" (7.3 million, 2.7/7) won its time period with a performance on par with other summer debuts.

Having a stronger primetime lineup than competitors allowed NBC to drive viewers to its 10 p.m. convention coverage (Thursday: 6.1 million, 2.2/6), which bested ABC and CBS by a significant margin on most nights.

Still, all of broadcast was notably trumped by CNN during Thursday's coverage of Democratic nominee Barack Obama's acceptance speech, with the cable network delivering 8.1 million viewers to become the most-watched network for the event.

Fox (averaging 4.6 million, 1.6/5) was second for the week, led by a repeat of "House" (6.8 million, 2.3/6). A two-part revival of "Moment of Truth" (5.2 million, 2.1/6) led the 9 p.m. hour Thursday.

In third, CBS (averaging 5.3 million, 1.4/5) had the second-highest-rated show of the week with a "Two and a Half Men" repeat (9 million, 3.0/8). "Big Brother" (Sunday: 5.7 million, 1.9/7) was slightly under par for the week, competing with the Labor Day weekend.

ABC (averaging 4.1 million, 1.3/4) had an unremarkable week, placing fourth led by the return "Wipeout" (6.3 million, 2.3/7), which dropped to a summer low up against "Talent."