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NEW YORK (AP) – Although it was the No. 2 prime-time show last week, ABC’s “Monday Night Football” didn’t end its 36-year run with a particularly crowded party.

An estimated 14.4 million people tuned in to watch the New England Patriots whip the New York Jets, a game that wound up secondary to a celebration of the show’s history. “Monday Night Football” moves to ESPN next season.

The finale was below the 16.2 million viewers that “Monday Night Football” has averaged this season. A decade ago, during the 1995-96 season, ABC’s Monday game averaged 23.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

During a holiday week with few original programs on the air, a rerun of CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” was the most popular show.

CBS continued its season-long winning streak, averaging 10.1 million viewers (6.7 rating, 12 share). ABC had 8.1 million (5.1, 9), NBC 7 million (4.7, 8), Fox 5.7 million (3.7, 6), UPN 2.6 million (1.7, 3), the WB 2.2 million (1.5, 3) and Pax TV 510,000 (0.4, 1).

Nielsen began measuring the Spanish-language network Univision last week for the first time. Its average prime-time audience of 3.4 million (1.7 rating, 3 share) beat both UPN and the WB.

NBC’s “Nightly News” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.6 million viewers (6.6, 13). ABC’s “World News Tonight” had 8.7 million viewers (6.0, 12) and the “CBS Evening News” 7.8 million (5.3, 10).

A ratings point represents 1,102,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 110.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Dec. 26-Jan. 1, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 17.65 million; “Monday Night Football: New England at N.Y. Jets,” ABC, 14.43 million; “NFL Monday Showcase,” ABC, 13.34 million; “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 12.93 million; “The OT,” Fox, 12.75 million; “Desperate Housewives,” ABC, 12.4 million; “NCIS,” CBS, 12.19 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 12.14 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 11.71 million; “CSI: NY,” CBS, 11.51 million.



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