Season Is a Success for Everyone Except NBC

"The Number 1 finish [among 18- to 49-year-olds] was bred from a number of shows doing incredibly well," Liguori said.

CBS, the geezer network that was, also had a great season attracting those younger viewers. It finished first in the demographic group in regular programming for the first time in three decades, fueled by two editions of "Survivor," its Jerry Bruckheimer crime dramas and outgoing "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Among viewers of all ages, CBS was the most watched network for the fourth time in the past five seasons, winning by a margin of nearly 3 million viewers over second-place ABC -- the widest margin for any network in 16 years.

But perhaps the most talked-about story of the season -- other than NBC diving from first place to fourth with the collapse of its Thursday night empire -- is the return of ABC.

ABC has been so out of business for so long that it verged on irrelevant. But this season it's climbed from fourth place to second among viewers of all ages, and fourth to a solid third in that key 18-49 group, causing the Hollywood Reporter to write that "even in a town that thrives on schadenfreude, industry insiders are cheering the network's revival as a good thing for the business."

ABC revived and blossomed on the strength of three new shows: "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost."

Last season, there were no freshman scripted series among the 15 most watched TV shows. This year, there are three: "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost."

Last season, there was just one freshman scripted series among the 15 programs most watched by 18- to 49-year-olds: NBC's "Coupling" (which was canceled after just four episodes because its drop-off from its Must-See-TV lead-in was too great).

This season, there are three: "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Lost."

Push those lists out to include the top 25 series and you add two more freshman scripted series: NBC's "Medium" and Fox's "House."

And, not a procedural crime drama in the bunch.

"We certainly felt like we had to take chances," ABC Entertainment division chief Steve McPherson says of his network's three freshman hits.