Primetime Ratings: Idol Viewers Don’t Idle Around New Amsterdam

Fox Wins Night but Debut of Detective Drama Fails to Hold American Idol Audience

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/5/2008 1:03:00 PM

Fox won Tuesday night easily in the 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen Media Research overnight numbers, averaging a 7.5 rating/18 share on the night. Its premiere of detective drama New Amsterdam won its time period, as well, with a 4.6/11 from 9 p.m.-10 p.m., but from its first half-hour (5.1/12) to its second (4/10), it lost more than 20% of its big lead-in audience supplied by American Idol.

Still, the competition should have such "problems."

In distant second was NBC with a 3.3/8, led by The Biggest Loser, which was second from 9 p.m.-10 p.m. with a 4.1/10, but unlike New Amsterdam, it gained audience big-time, going from a 3.2/8 in its first half-hour to a 4.4/11 in its second, besting the second half-hour of New Amsterdam.

CBS was third with a 2.1/5. Its top show was Big Brother from 9 p.m.-10 p.m. with a 2.5/6 in the hotly contested time period. The return of Jericho continued to lag behind, averaging only a 1.8/5 from 10 p.m.-11 p.m. CBS revived the show after die-hard fans clamored for it, but they were apparently not in sufficient numbers to give it much of a rating.

ABC was fourth with a 1.8/5, led by its Primetime hidden-camera show from 10 p.m.-11 p.m. The network continued to get little production out of its other hidden-camera show, Just for Laughs. A repeat at 8:30 p.m. only drew a 1.4/3 but still outdrew the original episode that preceded it at 8 p.m. (1.3/3). It didn't do much better with According to Jim (1.9/5) and Carpoolers (1.5/4) from 9 p.m.-10 p.m.

The CW was fifth with a 1.1/3. Its bright spot was the second half of One Tree Hill from 9:30 p.m.-10 p.m., which tied ABC's Carpoolers at a 1.5/4.