Another gigantic "American Idol" performance propelled drama "The OC" to new ratings heights on Wednesday as Fox dominated primetime, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.
For the third night in a row, an hourlong auditions episode obliterated everything in its path, averaging a 12.7/32 in adults 18-49 and 29.4 million viewers overall. NBC's "The Apprentice" ran a distant second in its first Wednesday try (4.9/12 in adults 18-49, 12.3 million viewers), down sharply from its Thursday preview segs but still a solid showing given the competish and NBC's recent history in the timeslot.
From 9 to 10, "The OC" set series highs (5.7/14 in adults 18-49, 12.9 million viewers), winning the hour in 18-49 opposite ABC's week two of "The Bachelorette" (5.2/12 in adults 18-49, 11.6 million viewers).
Elsewhere, a repeat of NBC's "Law & Order" (5.2/14 in adults 18-49, 14.6 million viewers) easily led at 10 opposite ABC's "Celebrity Mole: Yucatan" (4.0/11 in adults 18-49, 8.4 million viewers).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 9.2/22; NBC, 4.3/11; ABC, 3.9/10; CBS, 2.5/6; WB, 1.9/5; UPN, 1.5/4.
In total viewers: Fox, 21.1 million; NBC, 11.6 million; CBS, 9.7 million; ABC, 9.1 million; WB, 4.3 million; UPN, 3.6 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com