Graceful start for Fox's 'Swan'

Morning Ratings Flash - Rick Kissell

By RICK KISSELL

Fox's new makeover reality series "The Swan" looked pretty in its debut Wednesday night, dominating its hour in a special post-"American Idol" premiere and lifting the net to an easy victory on the night, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.

From 9 to 10, "The Swan" (6.8/18 in adults 18-49, 15.0 million viewers overall) retained nearly 80% of its lead-in from "American Idol" (8.6/27 in adults 18-49, 19.9 million viewers overall), with both shows crushing its competish in all key demo categories. This is the fourth highest-rated premiere of the season in 18-49, behind Fox's "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" and NBC's "The Apprentice" and "Coupling."

Show moves to its regular Monday-at-9 slot next week.

Elsewhere, the latest edition of ABC's "The Bachelor" looked strong with a two-hour premiere from 9 to 11 (5.1/14 in adults 18-49, 10.9 million viewers overall). After finishing behind "The Swan" in its first hour, "The Bachelor" grew nicely from 10 to 11, easily topping that hour in demos and peaking with a 6.3/17 in adults 18-49 at 10:30.

NBC was led by a repeat "Law & Order" at 10 (4.5/12 in adults 18-49, 13.4 million viewers overall), CBS by an hour of "King of Queens" (3.4/9 in adults 18-49, 9.4 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 7.7/22; ABC, 4.2/12; NBC, 3.3/9; CBS, 2.7/7; WB, 1.1/3; UPN, 0.8/2.

In total viewers: Fox, 17.4 million; NBC, 9.8 million; ABC, 9.6 million; CBS, 9.2 million; WB, 2.8 million; UPN, 1.9 million.