FOX was the winner in the adults 18-49 demographics category for the week ending Sunday, making it the first time it won before Thanksgiving since 1998, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday.

Prime-Time viewership numbers showed that Fox finished the week with a 3.4 average rating just ahead of ABC and CBS, which each posted a 3.3. The NFL helped push FOX past ABC and CBS. Despite NBC's own NFL magic Sunday night, the channel came in behind with a 3.1 rating.

Shows like House averaged 16.8 million viewers and a 6.8 rating/16 share in adults 18-49, according to preliminary estimates released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. But Dancing with the Stars (20.7 million, 4.9/12) bested House in viewership by far. NBC's The Biggest Loser (7.5 million, 3.1/8) matched its time period average so far this season and built along its two-hour length.

But CBS had its own formula Monday, led by a surging The Big Bang Theory (9.3 million, 3.8/9) as well as old favorites Two and a Half Men (14.1 million, 5.0/11) and CSI: Miami (15.5 million, 4.7/12). NBC stayed competitive at 9 p.m. with Heroes (11.2 million, 5.2/12).

CBS won at 8 p.m. with NCIS (17.4 million, 3.7/10), although ABC's twin holiday specials Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (9.9 million, 3.3/10) and He's a Bully, Charlie Brown (10.4 million, 3.5/9) managed to outperform last year's telecasts. Bones ( 8.7 million, 3.0/8) came in third in the hour.

For the evening newscasts, NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams preformed well after the anchor hosted Saturday Night Live. ABC's World News With Charles Gibson and NBC Nightly News were tied at 9.1 million viewers for the win in terms of viewership, while CBS Evening News With Katie Couric averaged 6.7 million viewers and a 1.7/6 in adults 25-54. NBC's newscast averaged a 2.3/9 in the adults 25-54 demo compared with ABC's 2.2/8.

NFL Thanksgiving