The second-season premiere of Fox's music talent show "American Idol" delivered whammo ratings Tuesday night, making for the biggest non-sports night in the network's history, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.
The 90-minute premiere averaged a huge 12.4/30 in adults 18-49 and 26.5 million viewers overall, making it the season's third-highest season premiere in 18-49, behind NBC's "Friends" and "ER." It grew every half-hour, peaking at 9:30 with a 14.2/33 in the demo and about 30 million viewers. In that half-hour, Fox topped the combined ABC-CBS-NBC competish by 5 shares in adults 18-49 and by an astonishing 18 shares in adults 18-34.
A 30-minute look at the first season of "American Idol" followed with huge numbers as well (11.2/26 in adults 18-49, 23.6 million viewers overall).
It was a close battle for second in key demos, with ABC edging out NBC for second in adults 18-49 and ABC and CBS in a tie among adults 25-54. CBS was runner-up in total viewers.
NBC's "Meet My Folks" performed well in its second preview episode, averaging a slot-winning 5.6/14 in adults 18-49 at 10 o'clock - a 47% increase over the net's average in the hour this season. It placed second to CBS drama "Judging Amy" in total viewers.
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 12.1/29; ABC, 3.5/9; NBC, 3.4/8; CBS, 3.1/8.
In total viewers: Fox, 25.7 million; CBS, 13.2 million; ABC, 9.3 million; NBC, 7.9 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com