'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' scores highest rating in four years

Proving that age is just a number, the 39-year-old animated holiday special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving drew its largest audience in four years and held strong against new editions of CBS's Survivor and FOX's The X-Factor.

Attracting a total audience of 8.1 million viewers on ABC, the Peanuts holiday broadcast had a bigger overall audience than The X-Factor, which was watched by 7.2 million people, and also delivered a 2.2 rating in the Adults 18–49 demographic, an increase of 22% over last year. Although the Thanksgiving special ranks behind the more popular A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in terms of viewership, these are impressive numbers for an annual special approaching its 40th anniversary.

As expected on the night before the Thanksgiving holiday, television ratings across the board were down. Compared to last week, NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit plummeted the most by 24%, while CBS's CSI suffered the least damage, dropping only 8%. CSI's lead-in, Criminal Minds, scored the largest number of total viewers for the night, drawing an audience of 11.47 million with a 2.7 rating in the 18–49 demographic.

In case you missed it last night, an encore presentation of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving will air on ABC tonight at 8:00 PM. For your other television viewing options this evening, have a look at our Thanksgiving Day TV Rage Guide!