Fox's hot drama "House" exploded in the ratings Tuesday night in its first post-"American Idol" airing of the season, racking up the best numbers for any scripted program in nearly a year. The combo logged what's believed to be the net's highest-rated night ever with a regularly scheduled lineup.
According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "House" (11.2 rating/27 share in adults 18-49, 27.8 million viewers overall) retained a very strong 84% of its huge demo lead-in from "American Idol" (13.3/33 in 18-49, 33.3 million viewers overall), with both shows crushing all competitors. No program, in fact, did better than a 6 share in adults 18-49 opposite the Fox programs.
"House" edged out the season premiere of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" to become the highest-rated scripted telecast of the season among adults 18-49 -- and the best since an episode of "Grey's" last February. The medical mystery skein rose a full ratings point over its previous demo high with last May's season finale (10.2/25), and gained more than 2 million viewers overall (27.8 million vs. 25.5 million).
As for "American Idol," it continues to perform at a record pace, outdelivering the same night a year ago by 7% in adults 18-49 and more than doubling the combined 18-49 delivery of ABC, CBS and NBC in the 8 o'clock hour (6.1/15). Through five telecasts, the music competition is up by 3% in 18-49 (14.7 rating to 14.2) and by 5% in total viewers (35.3 million vs. 33.6 million).
Best showings on the other nets all came at 10 o'clock: NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" repeat (2.9/8 in 18-49, 8.3 million viewers overall), ABC's firstrun "Boston Legal" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 9.4 million viewers overall) and CBS' special firstrun "48 Hours" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 9.4 million viewers overall).
The season finale of ABC's "Big Day" at 9 o'clock settled for a 1.4/3 in 18-49 and 3.9 million viewers overall.
Of note at the CW was "Gilmore Girls" (2.1/5 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall), which, despite facing "Idol," logged its best score among women 18-34 (4.0/10) since last January.
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 12.3/30; CBS, 2.4/6; NBC, 2.3/6; ABC, 1.9/5; CW, 1.7/4; Univision, 1.7/4.
In total viewers: Fox, 30.5 million; CBS, 10.0 million; NBC, 6.8 million; ABC, 6.4 million; Univision, 4.1 million; CW, 3.5 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com