Rant is not a synonym for ratings. But it could be where The View is concerned.

The ABC talk show, which upped its decibel level with the arrival of Rosie O'Donnell last fall, has drawn the biggest audience in its nearly 10-year history, according to the latest daytime ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

The coffee-time kvetch averaged 4.2 million viewers for the week of Jan. 15-19. The previous high, of 4.1 million, was posted nearly three years ago.

Overall, ABC said, View viewership is up 15 percent this season.

The numbers' spike coincides with O'Donnell's rants on Donald Trump, Kelly Ripa, American Idol auditions, President Bush and more. (To be technical about it, O'Donnell's remarks last week on Bush weren't a rant—they were a call for impeachment.)

And O'Donnell hasn't been the only View cohost letting it rip. Elisabeth Hasselbeck has called out Law & Order: SVU. Referee Barbara Walters, in defense of O'Donnell, has called out Trump. Only Joy Behar has had trouble generating headlines, if not getting in a word.

Katie Couric, for one, might want to take The View example to heart.

Bereft of venting sessions, the Couric-led CBS Evening News remained stuck in last place, with 7.5 million viewers, for the week of Jan. 22-26. That's on par with what the telecast was doing last year under the helm of the low-profile Bob Schieffer.

It was Couric's ascension to the anchor chair that led to O'Donnell joining The View, as well as former View moderator Meredith Vieira joining NBC's Today. And as has been the case since this game of musical chairs commenced, Couric is the only one who hasn't found a comfy seat.

At Today, Couric's old show, the morning-news program widened its lead over ABC's Good Morning America for the week of Jan. 8-14, NBC said. Numbers-wise, Today averaged 5.2 million viewers to its top rival's 4.8 million.

Perhaps Diane Sawyer should consider airing out a rant, too.

Elsewhere on the ratings front, here are some highlights from the prime-time TV week ended Sunday:

• What's it like to air opposite Wednesday's American Idol (first place, 33.9 million viewers)? CBS' axed Armed & Famous (87th place, 4.2 million) won't live to tell.
• ABC's not axed In Case of Emergency (110th place, 3 million) also goes up against Wednesday's Idol.
• CBS' NCIS (10th place, 14.8 million) is still hanging in there opposite Tuesday's American Idol (second place, 32.6 million). So is the CW's Gilmore Girls (91st place, 3.7 million).
• Fox's Prison Break (22nd place, 9.9 million) ran to a season high in viewers but couldn't catch NBC's Deal or No Deal (sixth place, 17.6 million) on Monday. 
• Score another Thursday round to ABC's Grey's Anatomy (third place, 21.5 million) over CBS' CSI (fourth place, 21.2 million).
• How to tell ABC's Supernanny (27th place, 9.2 million) from Fox's Nanny 911 (82nd place, 4.6 million? Supernanny's the one that's already been picked up for next season.
• How to tell ABC's Wife Swap (33rd place, 8.6 million) from Fox's Trading Spouses (59th place, 6.3 million)? Wife Swap's the one that's already been picked up for next season.
• How to tell ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos (20th place, 10.4 million, for a rerun) from viewers of CBS' Hallmark Hall of Fame special, Valley of Light (11th place, 14.8 million)? Funniest Home Videos, also renewed for next fall, is only going on 18 seasons old.
• Fox's King of the Hill (47th place, 7.3 million) looked robust in its 11th-season premiere—up 3 percent over last season's opener, up 38 percent over last season's average.
• NBC's Crossing Jordan (41st place, 7.9 million) posted season-best numbers in an otherwise ratings-bad season.
• ABC is moving According to Jim (62nd place, 6.2 million) into the Wednesday time slot occupied by Knights of Prosperity (95th place, 3.6 million), and vice versa. No word on when the network plans to tackle the deck chairs on the Titanic.
• Unlike his approval ratings, President Bush's TV ratings are up. Tuesday's State of the Union address drew 45.5 million, up from 41.7 million last year.
• USA's Monk (5 million) and Psych (3.7 million) were the most-watched cable dramas. FX's Dirt (1.9 million) wasn't. 
• The 13th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards was watched by a combined 5.9 million trophy-enthusiasts on TBS and TNT. The TNT telecast alone averaged 3.4 million, the most since 2003.
• The National Hockey League's all-star game (691,000), as presented by Versus, almost beat an hour's worth of Mama's Family reruns on ION (732,500). Oh, well, maybe next year...
• Jeremiah Johnson-mania explained: AMC exec Charlie Collier theorizes that the 1972 Robert Redford Western drew a cable-whopping 4.1 million viewers on Jan. 20 because: (a) the movie hadn't been shown on basic cable since March 2005; (b) the movie hadn't been shown on AMC ever; and (c) the movie got the full 35th-anniversary treatment, complete with a restored print. The unofficial explanation: Redford got everybody at Sundance to tune in.

Overall, Idol did its thing, and led Fox to Nielsen glory as the most watched network (averaging 12.6 million viewers), and the highest-rated network among 18-to-49-year-olds.

CBS (11.6 million) nabbed a pair of second-place finishes, while ABC (8 million) claimed a pair of distant third-place finishes.

Missing football, and lacking punch beyond Deal or No Deal and Heroes (ninth place, 14.9 million), NBC (7.7 million) ran fourth in both categories.

The CW (3.3 million) pink-slipped its most watched half-hour comedy, Reba (98th place, 3.6 million).

Here's a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. American Idol (Wed.), Fox, 33.9 million viewers
2. American Idol (Tues.), Fox, 32.6 million viewers
3. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 21.5 million viewers
4. CSI, CBS, 21.2 million viewers
5. CSI: Miami, CBS, 18.9 million viewers
6. Deal or No Deal (Mon.), NBC, 17.6 million viewers
7. Two and a Half Men, CBS, 15.8 million viewers
8. Cold Case, CBS, 15.1 million viewers
9. Heroes, NBC, 14.9 million viewers
10. NCIS, CBS, 14.8 million viewers