'apprentice' Finale Gets Job Done

The Donald took the spotlight in primetime Thursday as 17 million viewers tuned in to the live three-hour finale of "The Apprentice 2."

The closing salvo of the second incarnation of "Apprentice" didn't come anywhere near the ratings for the finale of the first "Apprentice" in April, but it nonetheless gave NBC its highest nonsports rating on a Thursday since the finale of "Frasier" in May.

From 8-11 p.m., "Apprentice 2" averaged 16.9 million viewers and a 7.8 rating/21 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. The "Apprentice" finale, the last part of which was hosted by Regis Philbin, pulled its highest demo ratings among women 25-54 (10.1) and performed well with men 25-54 (6.8) and men 18-49 (6.3).

Not surprisingly, viewership peaked around the moment of truth, when host Donald Trump selected contestant Kelly Perdew, a software executive from Carlsbad, Calif., as the winner of his corporate-jungle elimination contest. "Apprentice 2" averaged 19.9 million viewers and a 9.3/23 in the key demo between 9:30-10 p.m. In contrast, the two-hour finale of the first "Apprentice" series averaged 28 million viewers and a 13.6/34 in adults 18-49.

CBS did its part to help to help NBC's turnout by running repeats of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Without a Trace." But even with a rerun, the regular 9 p.m. airing of "CSI" (19.5 million, 6.5/17) topped "Apprentice 2" in viewers and was a competitive No. 2 in adults 18-49. The 10 p.m. "Without a Trace" (16.2 million, 5.0/13) encore also was competitive.

CBS ran second for the night overall with an average of 16.4 million viewers and a 5.1/14 in adults 18-49.