NBC's 'America's Got Talent' climbed 8% from last week as the network talent shows battled on Wednesday.
Fox's 'So You Think You Can Dance' faced off against NBC's talent show and won out in adults 18-49.
"Rock Star" didn't shine too brightly for CBS in its second-season premiere Wednesday night, settling for third place behind hotter unscripted skeins.
The contest to find a lead singer to the new group Supernova -- featuring Tommy Lee and former members of Guns N' Roses and Metallica -- averaged a 2.2 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 and 5.3 million viewers overall in its 90-minute premiere, according to Nielsen.
Those numbers are down from the 2.4/7 demo score the show logged in its July 2005 series preem on a Monday. It also earned a 2.5/7 in adults 25-54.
"Rock Star" aired a special additional episode Thursday night before resuming its regular pattern of hourlong segs Tuesday at 9 (where it faired better last season, behind "Big Brother") and Wednesday at 8.
Wednesday also saw another competitive head-to-head matchup in the 9 o'clock hour between NBC's "America's Got Talent" and the second half of Fox's two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" -- with both shows up week to week.
"Dance" won out in 18-49 (4.2 to 4.1), 12-34 (4.0 to 3.5) and female demos while "Talent" moved ahead in 25-54 (4.6 to 4.3), male demos and total viewers (12.03 million to 10.47m).
"Talent" was up 8% vs. last week, when it was the sesh's No. 1 skein in several key categories. For its two hours, "Dance" (3.6/11 in 18-49, 9.14m) edged up 3% vs. the prior week.
"Dance" shifts to a one-hour Wednesday format next week (9 to 10 p.m.) while "Talent" expands to 90-minute segs (8:30 to 10 p.m.) as it enters the semifinals.
In other unscripted programming news, ABC has put an end to its low-rated Monday series "How to Get the Guy," replacing it next week with repeats of "Supernanny."
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com