Special 'House' lifts Fox

Morning Ratings Flash -- Rick Kissell

By RICK KISSELL

As if "American Idol" weren't enough to give Fox another Wednesday victory, the conclusion of a special two-part "House" also scored very well for the net, which easily led the night in key ratings categories.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, an off-night episode of "House" dominated the 8 o'clock hour (6.2 rating/18 share in adults 18-49, 16.7 million viewers overall), sending usual slot leader "Deal or No Deal" on NBC (3.8/11 in 18-49, 12.3 million viewers overall) well below its recent averages on the night.

Fox also rolled as usual with the "American Idol" results show at 9 (11.4/28 in 18-49, 28.5 million viewers overall) and was a solid second in demos at 9:30 with "Unanimous" (6/14 in 18-49, 13.8 million viewers overall).

At ABC, "Alias" opened meekly (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.5 million viewers overall) and "Lost" spiked up from there although it was on the low end of its range (6.2/15 in 18-49, 15 million viewers overall). "Invasion" again struggled at 10 (3/8 in 18-49, 7.7 million viewers overall).

CBS ran third with "Amazing Race 9" at 8 (2.9/8 in 18-49, 7.7 million viewers overall) and "Criminal Minds" at 9 (3.5/8 in 18-49, 12.1 million viewers overall) before taking the lead at 10 with "CSI: NY" (4.8/13 in 18-49, 14.3 million viewers overall). Latter easily topped NBC's "Law & Order" (3.4/9 in 18-49, 10.6 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 7.5/20; CBS, 3.7/10; ABC, 3.6/10; NBC, 3.4/9; UPN, 1.5/4; WB, 1/3.

In total viewers: Fox, 18.9 million; CBS, 11.4 million; NBC, 10.3 million; ABC, 9.4 million; UPN, 3.3 million; WB, 2.3 million.