After four weeks, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric has dropped to third place in total viewers. An observer says of CBS: "They've returned to third place -- right where they were with Schieffer." NBC topped ABC by 610,000 total viewers. ABC beat CBS by 70,000 viewers.

But the battle for the 25-54 demo is, as Dan Rather would say, "tight as the rusted lug nuts on a '55 Ford." For the week of Sept. 25:

Total viewers: NBC: 8,170,000 / ABC: 7,560,000 / CBS: 7,490,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 2.1/9 / ABC: 2.0/9 / CBS: 2.1/9