'Kingdom' scares up solid ratings
Morning Ratings Flash - Rick Kissell
From 9 to 11, "Kingdom Hospital" averaged a 5.5/14 in adults 18-49 and 14 million viewers overall opposite drama competish that included Fox's "The OC," NBC's "West Wing" and "Law & Order" and a special repeat of CBS' "CSI." This is the best opening demo score for a drama since the Eye's "Without a Trace" in September 2002, and the best for an ABC drama since "Alias" in September 2001.
"Kingdom," which moves to its regular 10 o'clock slot next Wednesday, put up its best numbers among women, scoring a 15 share in 18-34, a 16 share in 18-49 and a 17 share in 25-54.
Fox's "American Idol" dominated the 8:30 half-hour (8.5/22 in adults 18-49, 19.4 million viewers overall), although this was its lowest score of the season. Net also put up solid numbers with "That '70s Show" at 8 (first-place 4.6/13 in adults 18-49, 10.0 million viewers overall) and with "The OC" at 9 (second-place 4.8/12 in adults 18-49, 10.7 million viewers overall).
CBS was led by an original "King of Queens" (4.5/11 in adults 18-49, 12.4 million viewers overall) and special repeats of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (4.5/11 in adults 18-49, 13.0 million viewers overall) and "CSI" (4.0/11 in adults 18-49, 11.1 million viewers overall). The numbers for each of these programs are expected to come down in nationals, as their fast-national results included college basketball preemptions in five mid-level markets.
Elsewhere on the night, ABC's "My Wife and Kids" ran second in demos with a special hourlong episode from 8 to 9(3.4/9 in adults 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall) and NBC's "West Wing" delivered its best numbers of the sweep (4.0/10 in adults 18-49, 11.5 million viewers overall).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 5.7/15; ABC, 4.8/13; NBC, 4.0/10; CBS, 3.7/10; WB, 2.0/5; UPN, 1.5/4.
In total viewers: Fox, 12.7 million; ABC, 12.5 million; CBS, 11.8 million; NBC, 10.8 million; WB, 4.9 million; UPN, 3.5 million.
