'Idol,' '24' rock Monday

Morning Ratings Flash - Rick Kissell

By RICK KISSELL

A special "American Idol" teamed with season-high ratings for "24" to lift Fox to victory on the final Monday of the February sweep, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen. NBC's "Medium" prevailed in the evening's last hour.

From 8 to 9, "American Idol" (10.0 rating/24 share, 23.4 million viewers overall), airing its second of three special Monday episodes, easily won in all key ratings categories. "24" followed with its best regular-sked results of the season (slot-leading 6.3/14 in adults 18-49, 14.7 million viewers overall), thriving without drama competish from NBC's "Las Vegas."

NBC led at 10 with "Medium" (5.6/13 in adults 18-49, 15.1 million viewers overall) and ran second to Fox from 8 to 10 with a two-hour "Fear Factor" featuring former reality-show contestants (4.8/11 in adults 18-49, 11.1 million viewers overall).

ABC didn't do much with the two-hour finale of "The Bachelorette" (3.3/8 in adults 18-49, 8.4 million viewers overall) but picked up at 10 as the conclusion continued with "After the Final Rose" (5.0/12 in adults 18-49, 11.3 million viewers overall).

CBS was a rare fourth-place finisher on the night, led by a repeat of "CSI: Miami" at 10 (4.6/11 in adults 18-49, 13.9 million viewers overall) and a repeat of "Everybody Loves Raymond" at 9 (4.6/10 in adults 18-49, 15.1 million viewers overall).

Preliminary adults 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 8.1/18; NBC, 5.1/12; ABC, 3.9/9; CBS, 3.8/9; WB, 1.6/4; UPN, 1.6/4.

In total viewers: Fox, 19.0 million; NBC, 12.4 million; CBS, 12.3 million; ABC, 9.4 million; WB, 4.8 million; UPN, 3.6 million.