Not entirely true, viewing numbers have been pretty consistent on the whole and the demo actually went up from both CSI Down / Maid Man.
And like 40-50% are now using dvrs, those numbers for CSI are probably higher this year due to the later timeslot Not to mention there's also things like iTunes
Just a note that the final ratings came in for Freaks & Geeks. Viewers: 10.79 million Rating: 2.7/7 Exactly the same number of viewers as the last episode with a slight bump in the demo. That's surely good news. Source
I don't think people are giving up on CSI necessarily, but I do want to yell at the 2.15 million people that are changing the channel after Criminal Minds!! I'm sure a lot of people might be dvr-ing it now because of the time slot, and it's a shame they're not counted in the same way. If the channel is recording, it's in use, as far as I'm concerned
Before everyone panics, remember that the CMAs were last night. http://www.tvline.com/2011/11/wednesday-ratings-45th-cma-awards/ They trounced EVERYONE.
CMA's or not, it just seems people have stopped watching CSI. Maybe CBS should move it back to 9pm on Thursdays.
I'm not worried yet. We've had baseball and award shows the last couple weeks. If NEXT week is equally bad, then I'd worry. But CSI still beat out SVU's 6.64 mil/1.9 but a long shot. In it's hour, it's the best drama.