Among the Christmas specials, interviews with the Duchess, and the Grey Cup game infiltrating the ratings charts mid-November sweeps, new contenders are finding their way into a regular spot in the Canadian primetime top 10.

Just this side of the all-important sweeps weeks – ratings for the four weeks in November that determine advertising price points for programs next season – Baton Broadcasting property The Drew Carey Show and Global’s Caroline in the City, Grace Under Fire and Sliders are inching up the ACNielsen People Meters. In arguably one of the flattest new seasons on record, ctv’s Spin City remains the only new offering this season pulling in a substantial audience.

The top 10 for the lucrative Toronto/Hamilton market remains, as per last year, Global dominated, with ctv’s er, its two-part airing of Pandora’s Clock, and the cbc’s Grey Cup the only offerings breaking up the Global top 10 headlock through the month of November. Despite ownership of the highest rated new sitcom in the States, Suddenly Susan, wic’s Ontario affiliate, chch-tv, is nowhere to be seen for the weeks of Nov. 4 through Dec. 1.

Spin City and Sliders continue to rate after entering the charts in late October. Caroline, in a new Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. time slot, registered an unprecedented third spot, a 9.5 rating, on the ACNielsen Toronto/Hamilton People Meters for the week of Nov. 25 through Dec. 1, although sked changes driven by the American Thanksgiving gave it a push. Baton’s Drew Carey hit its highest mark to date that same week, in 10th position with an 8.6, tied with Global’s Frasier.

As silly season programming and hockey broadcasts kick in, the night-by-night turf wars are as follows. (Unless otherwise stated, all ratings data are courtesy of ACNielsen’s People Meters for Toronto/ Hamilton, the 18-49 demographic.)

Monday primetime is an interesting mix, with Citytv making a rare successful pitch for a regular piece of the slate with its Star Trek: Voyager consistently edging out Baton’s Melrose Place and Global’s The Jeff Foxworthy Show in the 8 p.m. slot. Foxworthy ran a mere 2.8 rating Nov. 25 compared to Voyager’s 9.6, and was outpaced by cbc’s Canadian contribution Just for Laughs at a 3.5.

Although not confirmed until the end of the month, Global will likely change the slot’s playing field by moving the repeat wheel of Traders’ second season into that hour. In a test run Dec. 2, the Atlantis-produced program drew a 3.6, a 4.5 in the 25-54 demo, up a point or two over its Thursday sweeps average.

cbc is making waves in the later Monday slots with quintessential Canadian comedies This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Newsroom. This Hour is just shy of ctv’s 9 p.m. slot-winner Murphy Brown as of Nov. 25 and obliterated the first half of Global’s last Murder One airing mid-sweeps with a 5.9 in the 18-49 demo compared to Murder One’s 3.4.

The Newsroom, at the bottom of the hour, hit a 4.3, beating Murder One but bashed by Cybill, which, as per the u.s., is upping the Murphy Brown draw and pulled a 10.8 that same week.

ctv’s Cancon contribution, Two, in the 10 p.m. slot, is regularly obliterated by Global’s Chicago Hope, which ran an 8.3 and a 12.6 for the last two weeks of November compared to Two’s 1.3 and 3.4 in the 18-49 demo.

Tuesday nights are a battle of the comedies, with Global’s Frasier/Caroline in the City lineup slightly ahead of Baton’s Home Improvement/Spin City offering.

In the early slot, although Roseanne is going out with a whimper instead of a bang in the u.s., ctv’s Tuesday night mainstay is running neck and neck with Global’s Mad About You in its new slot at 8 p.m. Both scored a 7.1 Nov. 26.

In the 8:30 p.m. slot pitching new acquisitions for both Global and Baton, the half-hour is still up for grabs. Global’s Something So Right at a 6.8 was bumped by Life’s Work’s 7.4 Nov. 26, although Something took the time period for the previous three weeks.

The 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour belongs to Global with Frasier and Caroline, although Spin City’s ratings are consistently high enough to place it on the top 20. As of Nov. 26, Fraiser registered a 14.6 compared to Home Improvement’s 7.8. Caroline scored a 12 compared to Spin City, a twentysomething program badly packaged behind a family entertainment vehicle, with a 7.9 for that week.

Although comedy is winning hands down in the u.s., the Wednesday night drama vs. comedy showdown in Canada is making drama king of the hill, with Global’s Beverly Hills 90210/ Party of Five pack taking the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. block all four weeks in November over the Baton offering of Ellen, Townies, Men Behaving Badly and Drew Carey.

Global’s standby 90210 ran double-digit viewing audiences for both Nov. 13 and 20, registering a 10.3 and 11.7 versus Baton’s Ellen, which scored a 5.3 and an 8.3 respectively for the same dates. The race was tighter on the 27th with 90210 in at 7.5 and Ellen in at 6.1, but it’s the end of that run. abc moved Ellen to Carey’s 9:30 p.m. slot as of Dec. 4.

As for Townies, one of Baton’s new properties, the return of Molly Ringwald started the season strong in the bottom half of the Ellen hour, debuting at 8.1 in September, but dropped to a pitiful 4.8, 4.6, and 3.9 for the last weeks of November. Numbers of a similar scale in the u.s. pushed abc to axe it from the schedule post sweeps, replacing it with Coach.

Party of Five, consistently doing better in Canada than in the States, almost doubled Men Behaving Badly’s audience through November, running 9s over Men’s 4s with the exception of the 27th which recorded Party at 7.7 and Men at 5. The Genie Awards in that slot the same night recorded a 0.7.

Drew Carey, the brightest hit of the season to date, will give Party a better run for its money after being moved to the top of the hour the first week of December. Its sweeps ratings show a whopping 11 in the 18-49 demo Nov. 27, more than doubling its lead-in and upping its 9.7 and 9.4 in the two weeks previous, a tie with Party of Five’s ratings.

The 10 p.m. hour is locked in by ctv’s Law & Order, which reaped the benefits of Global’s EZ Streets/Murder One bounce through November, killing EZ Streets’ 4.3 and 2.8 rating with a 7.2 and a 9.3 for the middle two weeks of the month. Global’s Moloney, moved into the slot as of the last week in November, recorded a 2.4 for the 18-49 demo on the 27th versus Law & Order’s 6.2, its lowest season score to date.

Thursday night is business as usual, with the Global lineup taking 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and er flatlining Traders in the last prime hour for every week of November with numbers like 17.7, 17, and 18.6. versus Traders’ 1.4, 2.1 and 2.9.

ctv’s one-hour drama High Incident is consistently demolished by Friends and The Single Guy in the 8 p.m. block, with ctv opting to substitute a cartoon pitch the last week of the month and doing no better in the ratings. Cinar Films’ Lil’ Lulu hit a 1 in the top of the hour Nov. 28 (a 1.9 in the 2-11 demo); For Better or Worse a 3.5 at the back end.

Seinfeld at 9 p.m. has officially killed off ctv property John Larroquette, with nbc testing its new comedy, Chicago Sons, in the slot. ctv is in discussions with several suppliers with a decision pending.

wic’s premiere Thursday property Suddenly Susan has yet to threaten a Global stronghold, running in the 9:30 p.m. slot against the repositioned Grace Under Fire, which scored an 11 rating Nov. 21, and Baton’s Ink, which bottomed out at 2.2 the same night. nbc is reportedly considering moving Susan, recording a 5, 5.5 and 5.7 for chch the first three weeks in November, behind Friends in February, which may alter the landscape a tad for the May sweeps.

Sunday primetime, Global’s new ratings cache, is seeing the wacky Third Rock crew pulling away from Baton standby Lois & Clark; The Adventures of Superman, likely on its last legs this season. Sweeps week numbers shows Third Rock with an 11.6 Nov. 17, overshadowing Superman’s 6.4. Boston Common, in the second half of Global’s hour, is maintaining the Third Rock audience, hauling a 10.2 that same week. The X-Files in its new 9 p.m. slot is the number one Canadian-rated primetime show, recording numbers for the four weeks of November through to Dec. 1 of 24.6, 22, 20.8, and 23.4.