TV Top Ten - Grey's Anatomy In, Obama's Not

President Obama's inauguration, while a major draw on television as well as the internet, reportedly drew less TV viewers than President Reagan did back in 1981, but that doesn't much matter to CNN and FoxNews. Both cable networks enjoyed near record viewership for their coverage of the oathtaking. But, to put the historic event in perspective, it didn't even register a blip on network television's weekly top ten list. Grey's Anatomy, however, did.

With football on hold for its pre-Super Bowl weekend, nothing stood in American Idol's way of taking the top two network spots. While the reality show jumped up on the chart it fell in a big way in viewership. The previous week over 30 million people tuned in both nights to watch Simon Cowell pout and lob insults. Last week the total plummeted to 17 million and 22 million for Tuesday and Wednesday nights respectively.

Meanwhile the debut of ABC's flagship show LOST didn't even make the top ten. That's bad news for the network as it continually loses ground to CBS. Maybe their shows would do better if they actually kept them on for a steady season instead of jostling viewers with spotty schedules.

RANK PROGRAM NTWK RATING VIEWERS

NETWORK TELEVISION

1. AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY FOX 14.3 25.897

2. AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY FOX 12.1 22.773

3. CSI CBS 10.6 17.572

4. TWO AND A HALF MEN CBS 9.8 16.094

5. GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM ABC 9.4 14.432

6. CSI: MIAMI CBS 9.3 14.579

7. 60 MINUTES CBS 8.9 14.208

8. HOUSE FOX 8.8 15.027

9. CRIMINAL MINDS CBS 8.7 13.816

10. COLD CASE CBS 8.2 13.257

CABLE TELEVISION

1. OBAMA INAUG OATH/SPEECH(S)-01/20/2009 CNN 5 8.602

2. SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 CNN 4.5 7.796

3. SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 CNN 4.1 6.733

4. OBAMA INAUGURAL ADDRESS(S)-01/20/2009 FOXNC 3.7 5.571

5. INAUGURATION 2009(S)-01/20/2009 FOXNC 3.6 5.29

6. WWE ENTERTAINMENT (WWE RAW) USA 3.5 6.165

6. SR/INAUGURATION OF OBAMA(S)-01/20/2009 CNN 3.5 6.003

6. SITUATION ROOM CNN 3.5 5.677

6. SITUATION ROOM CNN 3.5 5.726

10. BURN NOTICE USA 3.3 5.124

10. INAUGURATION 2009(S)-01/20/2009 FOXNC 3.3 4.952