"UGLY BETTY" TOP NEW SHOW

The brilliant ABC Thursday night comedy "Ugly Betty" is the #1 new network TV program in America this season.

According to a new Season Rankings Report published today, the Salma Hayek-produced series ranks #14 this season, the highest ranking among all new network TV shows proving how right ABC was to move this hilarious comedy from its original timeslot on Friday nights.

"Ugly Betty" and "Heroes", the fourth highest rated new program this season are especially successful as they were able to premiere to strong numbers without a proper lead-in (unlike "Shark" and "Brothers and Sisters" which get a lot of help from "CSI" and "Desperate Housewives"). They also lost very little of that premiere audience in week #2 and "Heroes" then even managed to grow in week #3.

Here is the rundown of the top-5 new shows, their respective positions, and viewership levels.

1. UGLY BETTY (#14, ABC, 15,29 million viewers)
2. SHARK (#19, CBS, 14,52 million)
3. BROTHERS AND SISTERS (#22, ABC, 14,16 million)
4. HEROES (#24, NBC, 13,53 million)
5. THE NINE (#28, ABC, 11,91 million)

"Heroes" has already been renewed for a full season. Unless something goes wrong in the next week or so, expect full-season pick-ups for the top-3 shows very soon.