For more years than I care to count, NBC has been the pinnacle of programming from 8:00 until 11:00 every weeknight. Shows such as 30 Rock, The Office, Friends, Deal or No Deal, ER, Law and Order and Heroes made NBC the “it” network for over a decade. With changing times comes a swing in the superpowers of television. For the first time in a long time, the pendulum has swung out of NBC’s court and into Fox’s open arms.

This swing was finalized at Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards (ironically televised on NBC) when Fox won a long-running NBC bread-and-butter category. NBC’s Thursday night comedy lineup has dominated the “Best Comedy or Musical” category at most award shows. The network’s prized 30 Rock was the reigning champion. Finally dethroned, Fox’s hugely popular Glee upset veteran 30 Rock in its premiere season.

Glee’s win in the category showed a large shift for network television. Although their most-viewed show, American Idol, is far past its prime, Idol is still the most-watched show on almost any Tuesday or Wednesday night during February, March and April. Other shows, such as House, Family Guy, and Bones, help make Fox the most watchable network. Simply put, they air the shows that people today want to watch.

NBC’s lone award came for 30 Rock for Alec Baldwin’s performance as the show’s lead actor. With falling ratings and their late-night shakeup, NBC is falling faster than Jay Leno’s stock with the youth of America. With only one night of “must-see television” left, NBC will need to make huge waves in the spring as they scramble to fill the 10:00 spot left vacant by Leno’s recently canceled show.

Despite being a loyal fan of NBC for a long time, my focus has begun to shift away from the network. With Fox now reigning supreme, there is evidence that NBC could be the third, or even fourth place network. ABC and CBS have made large strides to expand their prime-time lineups in recent years. As I wrote earlier this year, CBS now owns the best night in comedy (a title held for many years by NBC’s Thursday nights), with shows Two And A Half Men, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and newcomer Accidentally On Purpose.

CBS has also gone bigger, expanding its popular NCIS lineup to include NCIS: Los Angles, and airs the incredibly popular new show, The Good Wife. Together with veteran shows such as Medium, C.S.I., and Criminal Minds, CBS is making a strong push at being the number-one network.

Not to be left for dead, ABC has also made a push to ensure they are not left behind in prime-time. Airing the second most popular reality show of late, Dancing with the Stars, the show teams with other veteran shows Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty. ABC also sports two of the hottest new comedies on television: Cougar Town and Modern Family. Airing together on Wednesday nights, the shows directly compete with NBC’s Law and Order: SVU (one of NBC’s longest-running and most decorated shows) and Fox’s Glee. ABC is clearly trying to make a statement with their show placement.

When push comes to shove, it is all about the ratings. As of January 10, 2010, NBC’s only two shows in the top 20 most-viewed were both football-related, with Sunday Night Football being the second-most viewed show. CBS has the most shows in the top 20, with NCIS being the prime-time leader and The Mentalist and NCIS: Los Angeles both falling within the top five. Of course, Fox is left off of this list with good reason. Two of the network’s best-performing shows, 24 and American Idol, were just premiering as this last report was published. Nielsen showed that both 24 and American Idol reported strong viewership in their premieres, including a huge performance by Idol which received almost 30 million viewers for its premiere episodes.

Regardless of what we already know, Fox is ready to fight it out with CBS for prime-time supremacy. Some key match-ups to watch will be on Monday and Tuesday. Those nights will pit the network’s largest shows against each other. Monday will put Fox’s 24 and House against CBS’s incredible comedy lineup (see above). Tuesday will feature Fox’s American Idol and Glee against CBS’s NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles. NBC will try to hang in the race with returning shows Chuck, The Biggest Loser, and Friday Night Lights.

One thing is for sure. With all of this intense competition, audiences are in store for an incredible winter and spring television lineup. It will be interesting to see how the late-night shakeup affects this competition.