MUMBAI: The winners of the first International TV Audience Awards has been announced at the 46th Monte-Carlo Television Festival Awards held in Monaco.

A collaborated effort between the Monte-Carlo TV Festival and Eurodata TV Worldwide, the awards seek to reward programs that have delivered the highest ratings worldwide in 2005 in three categories including "Drama TV Series", "Comedy TV Series" and "Telenovela / Soap Opera", informs an official release.

Revealed on the occasion of Mip TV 2006, the nominees were pre-selected among the ten best imported fiction programs in 51 countries.

As announced by the Festival's CEO David Tomatis and Eurodata TV Worldwide International director Jacques Braun, the winners for the most-watched television shows, include:

Drama TV Series - CSI Las Vegas (USA), in competition with Lost (USA) and Without a Trace (USA). CSI gathered more than 78.7 million viewers worldwide in 2005.

Comedy TV Series - Desperate Housewives (USA), in competition with Mr. Bean (UK) and Joey (USA). Desperate Housewives gathered more than 75.3 million viewers worldwide in 2005.

Telenovela / Soap Opera - The Bold and The Beautiful (USA), in competition with Rubi (Mexico) and Pasión de Gavilanes (Colombia/USA). The Bold and The Beautiful gathered more than 26.2 million viewers worldwide in 2005.

Created by Médiamétrie, Eurodata TV Worldwide distributes programming and audience information, based on its partnership with the national institutes operating people meter systems throughout the world. Its database contains more than 2000 channels in 75 countries and provides daily program information including: content, production, international distribution and the audience levels for targeted programs, adds the release.