The surprise would be if American Idol didn't sit perched at the top of the charts. It was, though look for the Academy Awards to briefly knock it off its perch next week.
Both airings of American Idol were the only shows FOX placed in the top 20, ABC had five shows, and NBC could only squeeze Dateline into this list (though things look different with the 18-49 top 20 where NBC also squeezed in The Office, 30 Rock and The Biggest Loser). CBS took twelve spots out of the overall broadcast prime time top twenty rankings.
Nielsen Top Twenty Shows by viewers for the week ending February 15, 2009:
| Rank | Shows | R=Repeat S=Special P=Premiere | Net | # Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000) | HH RATING (LIVE+SD) | HH SHARE (LIVE+SD) | 18-49 Rank |
| 1 | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 24,941 | 13.9 | 21 | 2 | |
| 2 | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 24,825 | 14.0 | 22 | 1 | |
| 3 | Mentalist, THE | CBS | 19,699 | 12.0 | 18 | 12 | |
| 4 | NCIS | CBS | 18,031 | 11.3 | 17 | 19 | |
| 5 | CSI | CBS | 17,938 | 10.8 | 17 | 6 | |
| 6 | GREY'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM | ABC | 15,159 | 9.7 | 15 | 3 | |
| 7 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | CBS | 14,995 | 9.2 | 13 | 7 | |
| 8 | WITHOUT A TRACE | CBS | 14,308 | 8.9 | 15 | 24 | |
| 9 | PRIVATE PRACTICE | ABC | 14,097 | 8.9 | 15 | 4 | |
| 10 | DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES | ABC | 14,010 | 8.7 | 13 | 5 | |
| 11 | CSI: MIAMI | CBS | 13,813 | 8.7 | 14 | 16 | |
| 12 | SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS | P | CBS | 13,632 | 8.0 | 13 | 10 |
| 13 | 60 MINUTES | CBS | 13,112 | 8.3 | 14 | ||
| 14 | BIG BANG THEORY, THE | CBS | 12,723 | 7.8 | 11 | 9 | |
| 15 | CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 12,476 | 8.0 | 12 | ||
| 16 | CSI: NY | CBS | 11,939 | 7.6 | 13 | ||
| 17 | BACHELOR, THE | ABC | 11,586 | 7.5 | 11 | 13 | |
| 18 | Dateline NBC 2/10(S) | S | NBC | 11,259 | 7.5 | 13 | 15 |
| 19 | 20/20-FRI | ABC | 10,990 | 7.0 | 13 | 23 | |
| 20 | ELEVENTH HOUR | CBS | 10,941 | 6.9 | 12 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved
All numbers above based on live plus same day DVR viewing.
