Primetime Ratings: 'Idol' Gives Fox Tuesday Win
Reality competition down slightly from previous week
By David Tanklefsky -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/11/2009 2:08:49 PM
Fox returned to the top spot last night, wining out easily over the competition thanks to a new episode of American Idol which dominated the 8 p.m. time slot despite pulling slightly lower numbers than last Tuesday night’s show.
Idol delivered a 9.0/24, just off the pace from last Tuesday’s 10.0/25. This week’s edition grabbed 24.5 million viewers in total. CBS was a distant second at 8 p.m., with NCIS pulling a 3.7/10, up significantly from last week’s 2.7/7. NBC countered with a two-hour block of Biggest Loser: Couples which finished third in the 8 p.m. hour at 2.9/8. ABC was fourth with Be My Valetine, Charlie Brown (1.5/2), while the CW was fifth with 90210 drawing a 1.2/3.
Fox fell to second place in the 9 p.m. hour with Fringe pulling a 4.3/11 behind NBC’s second hour of Biggest Loser which did a 4.5/11. CBS’ The Mentalist came in third at 4.2/10 but led in total viewers for the hour, averaging 19.6 million. ABC’s Scrubs was fourth at 2.0/5 and Privileged on CW was fifth at 0.7/2.
NBC stayed on top for the 10 p.m. time slot with Dateline: NBC beating out CBS’s Without A Trace, 4.0/11 to 3.5/9 respectively, though CBS again won in total viewers for the hour with a 14.5 million average. ABC's True Beauty came in third at 1.6/4.
For the night, Fox was dominant with a 6.7/17 but down from last week’s 7.5/19. They also won total viewers with 17.5 million, edging out CBS which averaged 17.4. CBS and NBC tied for second at 3.8/10 with ABC a distant fourth at 1.7/4 and the CW in fifth with a 0.9/2.
