CBS comes out on top for the 7th TV season in 8 years; ‘American Idol’ still a winner

CBS comes out on top for the 7th season in 8 years

NEW YORK — Television’s champions for the season that concludes Wednesday will be familiar. CBS was the most-watched network and Fox’s “American Idol” the most-watched show.

The Nielsen Co. says CBS will win for the seventh time in the past eight years. Through Sunday, the CBS average was nearly 2 million a night more than second-place Fox.

“Idol” was the nation’s most popular program for the seventh year in a row, even though its ratings have slipped during Simon Cowell’s last season.

CBS, NBC and Fox each averaged more viewers than they did last season. The popularity of sporting events made that possible. All the top four networks would see a ratings drop if sports weren’t taken into account.