Three American television series were nominated as the world’s most popular television shows of the past year: CSI, Desperate Housewives and The Bold and The Beautiful.

NEWS.com.au reports that ratings firm Eurodata TV Worldwide has found that CSI has drawn 79.9 million viewers world wide, beating

its sequel CSI: Miami as the world’s most popular TV drama series. The two series air on the Nine Network in Australia.

In the TV comedy category, Desperate Housewives (which airs on the Seven Network) attracted 70.2 million viewers worldwide, beating Monk and Mr Bean.

The Bold and The Beautiful, with 24.7 million viewers, was the most popular soap, against two Colombian soaps El Cuerpo des Deseo and Pasion de Gavilanes. Bold and The Beautiful airs on the Ten Network.

The figures, based on ratings in 48 countries with a potential 2.5 billion viewers, were released by Eurodata and the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.

The Seven Network’s main regional affiliate Prime Television is to remove the Central Coast from the Newcastle-Hunter market and create its own market area, targeting a population of around 300,000 residents.

The Newcastle Herald says the station will split its transmissions into the area, allowing for market-specific content and advertising, covering an area from Woy Woy to Wyee.

Prime’s CEO Doug Edwards says the move comes at a time as the company continues to strengethen its position as one of Australia’s leading regional television networks.

The company has appointed former NBN employee David Hurley as the area’s new sales executive.