Overnight Ratings: Dream Lovers, Where Are You?
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/28/2007 3:10:00 PM
ABC's sneak peak at new reality show The Great American Dream Vote may have been a wake-up call on the show's potential.
ABC was looking to give the show a boost, slating it after the first results show for solid performer Dancing With the Stars. That show delivered, recording its best rating in the key 18-49 Nielsen demo for an initial results show at a 4.4 rating/11 share.
Dream, the 10-11 p.m. wish-fulfillment contest hosted by Donny Osmond, lost 50% of its Dancing With the Stars lead-in rating to average a 2.3 in 18-49s in its first half-hour, only to plummet to a 1.6/5 in its second half-hour. Dream debuts in its 8-9 p.m. time slot Wednesday.
Fox won the night by a mile with Idol, which averaged a 10.4--down from the previous Tuesday night's 11.6/30, and by House, which wasn't far behind at a 9.5. Fox's average for the night was a 10/27, again topping the other Big Three-plus CW networks combined.
NBC was second, led by Law & Order: SVU at 10, which had a strong showing to win the time period with a 4.3/12. It was likely helped by defections from Dream Vote in its second half-hour.
ABC was third with a 2.8/8 in the demo thanks to Dancing, while CBS was fourth with a 2.2/6. Its top show was a repeat of NCIS at 8-9 (2.5/7).
The CW averaged a 1/3, led by reality singing competition Pussycat Dolls at a 1.2/3, down from a 1.4/3 last week.
