First President-Elect Barack Obama sparked a run on newspapers, and now his appearance on 60 Minutes helped deliver CBS the largest weekly audience of any network this season. The news program, featuring Obama’s first post-election interview, drew more than 25 million viewers, the biggest number since January 1999.

Not surprisingly, that helped CBS win the week in total viewers and in the 18-49 year-old category.  Season-to-date, CBS is tops in total viewers, and essentially tied with ABC for the 18-49 crowd. Here are the Nielsen figures for the week ending Nov 16::

Total Viewers (’000, change from 2007-08)

CBS 12,314, +3 percent

ABC, 10,467, +1 percent

NBC, 7,742, -6 percent

Fox, 6,782, -21 percent

Adults 18-49 (ratings, change from 2007-08)

CBS, 3.3, no change

ABC, 3.1, -9 percent

NBC, 2.9, -6 percent

Fox, 2.7, -21 percent

Week’s Top shows for Adults 18-49 (network, rating)

Sunday Night Football, NBC, 7.4

60 Minutes, CBS, 6.3

Desperate Housewives, ABC, 6.2

Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 5.7

House, Fox, 5.5

CSI, CBS, 5.1

CMA Awards, ABC, 5.0

Two And A Half Men, CBS, 4.9

Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick, NBC, 4.6

Dancing With the Stars, ABC, 4.2

Family Guy, Fox, 4.2

How I Met Your Mother, CBS, 4.2

(Photo: Reuters)

Helped by the World Series, Fox last week scored five of the top 10 shows among 18-49 year-olds. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Fox ratings were nonethless down 22 percent for the week, and are down 17 percent year-to-date, according to the latest Nielsen data.

Fox isn’t alone. Season-to-date ratings for NBC and ABC are down similar amounts. That leaves CBS on top. But even CBS is down 6 percent, so it’s dubious honor.

Total Viewers (’000, change from 2007-08)

CBS 11,351, up 2 percent

Fox, 10,875, down 21 percent

ABC 9,958, down 11 percent

NBC 6,098, down 13 percent

Adults 18-49 (rating, change from 2007-08)

Fox 3.6, down 22 percent

CBS 3.0, no change

ABC 3.0, down 19 percent

NBC 2.2, down 15 percent

Week’s Top Shows for Adults 18-49 (network, rating)

Desperate Housewives, ABC 5.8

House, Fox, 5.6

CSI, CBS 5.5

Grey’s Anatomy, ABC 5.4

Two and a Half Men, CBS 5.1

Fox World Series Game 4, Fox 5.1

The OT, Fox 5.0

Fox World Series Game 1, Fox 4.8

Fox World Series Game 4-Pre, Fox, 4.4

Survivor Gabon, CBS, 4.4

(Photo: Reuters)

It was another solid week for CBS, which has become a regular at the top of the TV ratings race so far this season, according to the latest figures from Nielsen.

But while CBS was the most-watched network and brought in the most 18-49 year-olds, it was ABC’s soapy dramas that were the most popular individual shows. Sexy doctors and sexy housewives, pretty bankable as ratings winners.

Total Viewers (’000, change from 2007-08)

CBS 11,472, up 4 percent

NBC 7,207, down 13 percent

ABC 9,147, down 14 percent

Fox, 6,727, down 43 percent

Adults 18-49 (rating, change from 2007-08)

CBS 3.2, up 7 percent

NBC 2.7, down 13 percent

ABC 2.8, down 20 percent

Fox 2.5, down 36 percent

Week’s Top Shows for Adults 18-49 (network, rating)

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 5.9)

Desperate Housewives (ABC, 5.7)

Two and a Half Men (CBS 5.3)

House (Fox, 5.3)

CSI (CBS, 5.2)

Family Guy (Fox, 4.7)

Heroes (NBC, 4.3)

The Office (NBC, 4.3)

SNL: Weekend Update (NBC, 4.2)

Survivor: Gabon (CBS, 4.2)

(Photo: Reuters)

It was a big week in the TV world for CBS, according to the latest Nielsen data.

Its live plus same day ratings for the week ending October 12, the third week of the new TV season, are below. As you can see, CBS won in total viewers, adults aged 18-49, and had the top show of the week in CSI.

TOTAL VIEWERS (Average ratings/Audience)
CBS 3.8/11.0 million
ABC 3.3/9.6 million
Fox 2.7/8.0 million
NBC 2.4/7.0 million

ADULTS 18-49 (Average rating/Audience)
CBS 3.2/4.2 million
ABC 3.0/3.9 million
Fox 2.7/3.6 million
NBC 2.7/3.5 million

WEEK’S TOP SHOWS, ADULTS 18-49 (Network, Rating)
1.    CSI (CBS 7.1)
2.    Desperate Housewives (ABC 5.9)
3.    Grey’s Anatomy-Thursday 9pm (ABC, 5.6)
4.    OT, The (FOX, 5.4)
5.    NBC Sunday Night Football (NBC, 5.2)
6.    Two and a Half Men (CBS, 5.1)
6.    SNL: Weekend Update 10/9 (NBC, 5.1)
8.    Office (NBC, 4.8)
9.    Survivor: Gabon (CBS, 4.4)
10.  Dancing With The Stars (ABC, 4.3)
10.  Criminal Minds (CBS, 4.3)
10.  CSI: NY (CBS, 4.3)

(Photo: Reuters)

The Hollywood Reporter is joining the ranks of newspapers and magazines that are redesigning their print editions and Web sites, but the changes that the nearly 80-year-old publication is making will affect much more than the way it presents itself.

Monday’s official relaunch of one of the top trades covering the movie business also will feature more charts, more data and more of a business focus in its reporting, publisher Eric Mika told us in an interview late last week.

“The industry is the largest exporting product America has. It’s not a frivolous business,” Mika said. “None of the publications to date really represent that. … It reaches out to the finance community, the technology community, but it does not forget the core readership on Wilshire Blvd., New York City and London.”

Elizabeth Guider , editor of the Reporter, said the plan is to continue offering stories about casting and deals — what she called the “bread and butter of Hollywood” — but the new mandate in an era of cheap information is to offer readers more analytical coverage with quick turnaround. That’s a similar aim for news outlets from The Wall Street Journal to our own news service , and a familiar proposal for a way to figure out how to charge people for news when so much of it is free these days.

Speaking of free, the Reporter’s parent company, Nielsen, plans eventually to make some of that information available online for a fee.

“Once we have enough real exclusive data … that sort of area will go behind the wall,” said Mika. “What is exclusive data? Data that only we can obtain, analyze and develop.”

Here are some of the changes coming to the print edition:

• New logo
• Fewer story breaks and more clearly-defined, dedicated sections.
• Breaking news about the major companies and personalites in the film industry, as well as familiar players beginning to make their mark.

On the Web:

• The debut of four channels of THR online video - “Box Office Tally,” “News,” “Exclusive Interview,” and “Festival Dailies”.
• Expanded blog coverage, including the year-round awards season “Gold Rush” blog, legal news blog “THR, Esq.,” film industry insider blog “Risky Biz,” digital media and online video blog “Reel Pop,” and TV and pop culture blog “Past Deadline.”

(Disclaimer: Thomson Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter share content. Photo courtesy of Reuters.)