The smoke has cleared in the fall battle for eyeballs between the private networks, with CTV easily retaining its number one status, despite the fact that rival Global Television has fared better with its new U.S. pickups.

Despite the soft debuts of U.S. dramas Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and the now-cancelled Smith, CTV continues to dominate the primetime schedule, bolstered by perpetual draws ER, Desperate Housewives and the CSIs.

Based on season-to-date national 2+ ratings compiled by Playback for the week ending Oct. 29, CTV is winning 13 of the 21 primetime slots, while boasting 14 of the Top 20 shows in Canada, according to Nielsen. CTV had 15 of the Top 20 this time last year. All ratings cited are season-to-date national 2+ averages unless otherwise noted.

Global failed to gain much ground on its competitor over last season, ranking a distant second with only five timeslot wins and five shows in the Top 20 – Survivor: Cook Islands, House, Prison Break, Las Vegas and Deal or No Deal.

‘Global is doing fine, though they’re not taking big chunks out of CTV,’ says Dennis Dinga, VP, director of broadcast buying at M2 Universal.

CTV controls Wednesday night – with Lost airing to 1.2 million viewers, Criminal Minds generating 2.2 million and CSI: New York averaging 2.4 million. Sunday’s lineup is just as solid, with The Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives both attracting more than two million apiece.

Global, however, proved more successful at picking new hit shows. Heroes, Shark and Brothers and Sisters have all received full-season orders from their U.S. networks.

Although rival caster CHUM buys U.S. programs on a much smaller scale, it chose well, as acquisitions including the comedy Ugly Betty and the sci-fi drama Jericho have also struck a chord with viewers and will be coming back for sophomore seasons.

‘All these programs are doing well so far. Usually there’s one or two you can talk about, but this season there’s been many,’ says Dinga.

On the other hand, CTV big-tickets including heist drama Smith, cancelled after only three episodes, and Studio 60, a behind-the-scenes look at the TV biz – rumored to be on the chopping block – performed well under expectations.

Other cancelled fare includes Global serialized dramas Vanished, about a U.S. senator’s wife who goes missing, and Kidnapped, similarly about a teenage boy’s abduction.

‘The U.S. networks rolled out more serialized dramas this season than any other season,’ says Florence Ng, VP of broadcast investment at Zenith Optimedia Canada. ‘Frankly, people aren’t willing to commit the time to watch the same show.’

Meanwhile, the sci-fi drama Heroes – about everyday people with extraordinary powers – surprisingly emerged as the cream of the rookie crop in Canada, averaging more than 1.2 million viewers per episode in its Monday 9 p.m. timeslot.

Heroes is ‘one of the key reasons why we’re feeling good about the fall season,’ says CanWest MediaWorks’ SVP of programming and production Barbara Williams.

Airing on NBC south of the border, Heroes ranks third in the U.S. among this season’s new titles – behind ABC’s Ugly Betty, about a lovable but unattractive woman’s adventures in the frivolous world of fashion, at number one, followed by CBS’s legal drama Shark, starring James Woods.

‘We’re quite surprised at how well shows like Heroes and Ugly Betty are doing… [against] the competition,’ says Sherry O’Neil of media buying firm OMD Canada.

In Ontario, where it airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on Citytv Toronto, Betty pulls 450,000 locals away from heavy hitters Grey’s and Survivor. Not bad for a local station punching above its weight. Heroes, by comparison, draws 550,000 Ontarians on Mondays.

‘We’re not surprised by Ugly Betty’s success… it was our kind of show,’ says Ellen Baine, VP of programming at CHUM Television. ‘The fact that it’s holding its own against Grey’s proves how good a show it really is.’

CHUM is also seeing promise with Jericho, airing Wednesdays opposite Lost to a season-to-date average 350,000 viewers in Ontario.

Shark airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. opposite CTV’s irrepressible ER – now in its 13th season and generating 2.3 million viewers – yet Shark brings in 1.1 million, making it the second most-watched new show on Canuck TV screens.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is still the most-watched TV program in Canada by a mile, attracting 3.6 million viewers to its Thursday 9 p.m. timeslot.

‘The niche shows like Heroes are getting some attention because they’re different,’ acknowledges CTV’s president of programming Susanne Boyce. ‘But the favorites of last year are still the favorites of this year,’ she adds.

CTV’s jam-packed schedule forced it to move some of its titles, such as Grey’s Anatomy, out of simulcast. Grey’s airs at 8 p.m. opposite Survivor in Canada, while ABC scheduled the hit medical drama one hour later, versus CSI.

The show’s ratings have dipped slightly to 1.9 million viewers, down from just over two million.

‘You have two chances to watch Grey’s [on ABC and CTV], so it’s not surprising that the numbers have dropped,’ says O’Neil. ‘It’s not a smart move not to take advantage of simulcasting.’

Meanwhile, over at CBC, Hockey Night in Canada remains a Saturday primetime timeslot winner and the pubcaster’s only showing in Nielsen’s Top 20, attracting 1.3 million viewers.