Auds rejected ABC’s 'The One,' which delivered the lowest premiere score for any series in net history and placed eighth in its timeslot.
'Last Comic Standing' has had a solid run in its latest incarnation.
ABC's music talent competition "The One" opened Tuesday night to cancel-me-now ratings.
Promos for the Alphabet skein called it "The show Fox didn't want you to see," but apparently most Americans weren't interested either.
The two-hour preem averaged a shockingly low 1.1 rating/3 share in adult 18-49 and 3.08 million viewers overall, according to Nielsen. It's the weakest premiere for any reality show on any net and also below all series bows in ABC history.
And among all series premieres on the Big Four broadcast nets, only 2003 Nathan Lane laffer "Charlie Lawrence" on CBS opened to a lower 18-49 score (0.9/3).
In adults 18-49, the preem of "The One: Making a Music Star" -- based on the smash Spanish Endemol skein "Operacion Triunfo" -- lagged not only NBC, Fox and CBS but also Univision, Sci Fi, FX and MTV.
ABC declined to comment on the numbers Wednesday and was sticking to its plan of replaying the premiere of "The One" Wednesday and airing its second seg Tuesday.
Fox, meanwhile, seemed to take some glee in ABC's Tuesday troubles, offering in its Wednesday morning ratings analysis to reporters that the show's weak start "proves yet again that regardless of all the wannabes and imitators, there is only one 'American Idol.' "
Puny numbers rep a blow to ABC, which is suffering a tough summer ratings-wise and was counting on twice-weekly "The One" to give it some momentum heading into fall.
Net has had no luck at all with its summer launches -- with "How to Get the Guy" and "Master of Champions" busts as well -- and some of its top scripted skeins like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" are drawing tiny auds with repeats.
Critics are cheering the net's fall offerings, but thanks to meager summer circulation and no "Monday Night Football" in early September, the net won't be able to promote the shows to large auds on its own air.
Looking at other unscripted programs Tuesday night, NBC's "Last Comic Standing" fared best (3.2/9 in 18-49, 7.75m), narrowly winning the 9 o'clock hour in key demos over Fox's repeat of "House" (3.1/9, 9.20m).
In the same slot, CBS' "Rock Star: Supernova" (2.8/8, 5.93m) ran third but was up a tick week-to-week and built in rating on its lead-in from "Big Brother: All-Stars" (2.6/8, 6.89m). "Big Brother" still led its hour in 18-49 but its five-episode average this summer (2.6) is off 16% from last year.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com