Record ratings last Wednesday night for the Survivor finale made it a foregone conclusion; Nielsen on Tuesday made it official: CBS was the most-watched television network for the week of Aug. 21-27.

Final figures showed that the Survivor show attracted 51 million viewers, the biggest audience ever to watch a summer television show. Only last January's Super Bowl telecast, which attracted 88 million viewers, drew a bigger audience this year.

The numbers helped CBS post an overall rating of 8.8 for the week and a 15 share, well above ABC, which finished second with a 6.7/12 (despite three Who Wants to Be a Millionaire shows that wound up in the top ten). NBC finished third with a 5.5/10, while Fox trailed with a 4.0/7.

More significantly, perhaps, was the fact that CBS took a commanding lead among adults 18-49, drawing a 5.3/16, well above second-place ABC's 3.3/10, NBC's 2.9/9 and Fox's 2.8/8. Surprisingly, for the first time in memory, not a single sitcom finished in the top ten, which was dominated by game and magazine shows.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research:

1. Survivor, CBS, 28.6/45;
2. Survivor: The Reunion, CBS, 22.5/36;
3. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Tuesday), ABC, 15.1/26;
4. Millionaire (Sunday), ABC, 14.9/24;
5. Millionaire (Thursday), ABC, 13.6/23;
6. 60 Minutes, CBS, 9.7/19;
7. 20/20 Downtown, ABC, 9.0/16;
7. Dateline NBC (Tuesday), NBC, 9.0/16;
7. The Practice, ABC, 9.0/15;
10. Law and Order (Monday), NBC, 8.3/13.

Source: Studio Briefing