Reality shines on Wednesday

Morning Ratings Flash - Rick Kissell

By RICK KISSELL

It was a great night for unscripted programs on Wednesday, with Fox's "American Idol" and a special episode of "Survivor" on CBS leading the way, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.

From 8 to 9, "Survivor: Palau" (6.8 rating/18 share in adults 18-49, 18.2 million viewers overall) easily led its time period over an hour of "That '70s Show" repeats on Fox (3.9/11 in adults 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall) and a repeat of "Lost" on ABC (2.6/7 in adults 18-49, 8.9 million viewers overall). Also shining in the hour was UPN's "America's Next Top Model" (2.3/6 in adults 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall), whose fourth edition is off to a hot start.

Fox's "American Idol" dominated at 9 (10.6/26 in adults 18-49, 24.2 million viewers overall) and also led comfortably at 9:30 with "Simple Life 3" (6/15 in adults 18-49, 13 million viewers overall). CBS comedies "King of Queens" (4.5/11 in adults 18-49, 11.4 million viewers overall) and "Yes, Dear" (4.2/10 in adults 18-49, 10.8 million viewers overall) ran a solid second, well ahead of ABC's "Alias" (3.5/8 in adults 18-49, 8.5 million viewers overall) and NBC's "West Wing" (2.8/7 in adults 18-49, 9.7 million viewers overall).

Things were quiet at 10, with repeats of "CSI: NY" on CBS (3.6/10 in adults 18-49, 10.2 million viewers overall) and "Law & Order" on NBC (3.5/10 in adults 18-49, 12 million viewers overall) in a close battle for the hour's lead.

Preliminary adults 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 6.1/16; CBS, 4.9/13; ABC, 3.1/8; NBC, 2.7/7; UPN, 1.6/4; WB, 0.8/2.

In total viewers: Fox, 13.4 million; CBS, 13.2 million; NBC, 9.2 million; ABC, 8.4 million; UPN, 3.6 million; WB, 2.1 million.