I'm not sure we'll see 30 million viewers again for a good long while, or a week where three shows eclipse 20 million. Perhaps the Summer Olympics will score big for NBC. We'll see.
American Idol roared back in the finale with over 31.66 million viewers. Shark made the top 20 in its swan song at number 16, and Ugly Betty's season finale made it at number 17. The premiere of FOX's So You Think You Can Dance landed in the #19 spot. NBC placed two shows on the list for the week, but that was only because LOST didn't air last week. Deal or No Deal was the 14th most watched show and Law & Order came in at #20.
For the week, CBS placed seven shows on the list, FOX placed six shows on the list, ABC had five.
Nielsen Top Twenty Shows by viewers for the week ending 05/25/08:
| Rank | Shows | Net | HH rating (LIVE+SD) | HH SHARE (LIVE+SD) | # OF HOMES (LIVE+SD) (000) | # Viewers (LIVE+SD) (000) | 18-49 Rank |
| 1 | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 17.7 | 28 | 19,961 | 31,661 | 1 |
| 2 | AMERICAN IDOL-TUESDAY | FOX | 15.1 | 24 | 17,031 | 27,061 | 2 |
| 3 | DANCING W/STARS RESULTS | ABC | 12.9 | 20 | 14,575 | 20,122 | 5 |
| 4 | DANCING WITH THE STARS | ABC | 12.4 | 20 | 13,990 | 19,223 | 9 |
| 5 | Grey'S ANATOMY-THU 9PM | ABC | 11.8 | 19 | 13,285 | 18,092 | 3 |
| 6 | NCIS | CBS | 10.3 | 16 | 11,649 | 16,524 | 12 |
| 7 | HOUSE-MON 9P | FOX | 10.0 | 15 | 11,250 | 16,358 | 4 |
| 8 | CSI: MIAMI | CBS | 10.4 | 17 | 11,716 | 16,265 | 8 |
| 9 | TWO AND A HALF MEN | CBS | 9.0 | 14 | 10,203 | 14,700 | 7 |
| 10 | Criminal Minds | CBS | 8.3 | 13 | 9,380 | 13,153 | 14 |
| 11 | RULES OF ENGAGEMENT | CBS | 7.6 | 11 | 8,544 | 12,290 | 10 |
| 12 | CSI: NY | CBS | 7.6 | 13 | 8,544 | 11,830 | 16 |
| 13 | HELL'S KITCHEN | FOX | 6.4 | 10 | 7,216 | 11,441 | 6 |
| 14 | DEAL OR NO DEAL 5/22(S) | NBC | 6.8 | 12 | 7,688 | 10,333 | 22 |
| 15 | BONES-MON 8P | FOX | 6.4 | 10 | 7,186 | 10,302 | 13 |
| 16 | SHARK | CBS | 6.9 | 11 | 7,765 | 10,271 | 25 |
| 17 | UGLY BETTY | ABC | 6.2 | 11 | 7,009 | 8,753 | 19 |
| 18 | DANCING W/STARS SP-5/20(S) | ABC | 5.9 | 9 | 6,650 | 8,740 | |
| 19 | SO YOU THINK CN DANCE-THU | FOX | 5.3 | 9 | 5,928 | 8,739 | 11 |
| 20 | Law And Order | NBC | 5.9 | 10 | 6,679 | 8,573 | 21 |
Nielsen Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved
All numbers above based on live plus same day DVR viewing.
