NEW YORK (AP) – Despite – or maybe because of – the Janet Jackson breast-baring fallout, the Grammys were seen by 26.3 million viewers, making Sunday night’s awards show the third-most watched Grammy telecast of the last 10 years.

It was the most for the music industry’s showcase since 26.6 million watched in 2001, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

Jackson didn’t show up, but CBS telecast the event on a five-minute delay to guard against any comparable stunts.

The Grammys also enabled CBS to win the first full week of the February sweeps, despite Fox’s continuing “American Idol” juggernaut. “Idol” topped 30 million viewers for its episode last Tuesday.

Thursday’s all-star “Survivors” episode was seen by 23 million people, about 3 million more than the typical audience for a regular version of the game.

“Friends,” nearing its finale, is also gaining viewers – just under 25 million people saw an original episode Thursday.

And despite going up against CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” Donald Trump can be pleased with an audience of 18.4 million people for “The Apprentice.”

The season-ending wedding episode of NBC’s “Ed,” was a dud, though, seen by only 8.2 million people, making the show’s return unlikely.

For the week, CBS averaged 15.4 million viewers (9.7 rating, 15 share).

Fox averaged 11.7 million viewers (7.0, 11), and won among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic craved by advertisers.

NBC averaged 11.6 million viewers (7.7, 12), ABC had 8.5 million (5.6, 9), UPN (2.5, 4) and the WB (2.4, 4), both averaged 3.6 million viewers and Pax TV 960,000 (0.7, 1).

NBC’s “Nightly News” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 11.8 million viewers (8.1 rating, 15 share). ABC’s “World News Tonight” had 11 million (7.7, 14) and the “CBS Evening News” 9.3 million (6.5, 12).

A ratings point represents 1,084,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 108.4 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Feb. 2-8, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 30.1 million; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 29.3 million; “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 28.8 million; “Grammy Awards,” CBS, 26.3 million; “Friends,” NBC, 24.9 million; “Survivor: All-Stars,” CBS, 23.1 million; “ER,” NBC, 22.2 million; “American Idol” (Monday), Fox, 21.2 million; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 20.6 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 18.9 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.nielsenmedia.com

AP-ES-02-10-04 1459EST

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