Fox is most-watched US network for 2007/8

Fox was the most-watched US television network during the 2007/8 season, beating traditional leader CBS for the first time.

As the home of American Idol and this year's coverage of the high-rating Super Bowl, Fox was the only one of the big five to record a year-on-year audience increase.

Viewing figures were badly affected across the board by the the writers' strike, which meant very little new drama and comedy was available through much of the winter. When shows did return in the spring, audiences were reluctant to resume watching.

All networks except Fox suffered a fall in their Nielsen rating among those aged 18-49 - a key measure of audience performance. Fox was up 5%; for CBS, which aired last year's Super Bowl, the figure fell 19%; ABC and The CW were both down 14% and NBC by 10%.

Fox's overall average audience across the season, which ended yesterday, was 11.1m, edging out CBS's 10.5m.

Fox chairman Peter Liguori admitted the WGA strike "made this year an anomaly" but said: "I feel proud of a group out there, from scheduling and planning to marketing and programming, that did a solid job keeping the network vibrant and robust amidst the strike.

"You strip the Super Bowl away and American Idol away, and the network is still number one by a good margin. That shows the strength of our network across seven nights a week."

Fox's best-rating scripted series was House. The programme is on a par with ABC's Desperate Housewives as the most-watched scripted show of the season.