'Idol' rolls, 'Loser' up

Fox rules over Tuesday night

Fox claimed two of the week's top spots in the program rankings with 'American Idol' segs on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Fox crushed the competition once again on Tuesday night with a two-hour episode of "American Idol," while NBC was a distant runner-up thanks to improved numbers for "The Biggest Loser."

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "American Idol" averaged a huge 11.2 rating/27 share in adults 18-49 and 28.8 million viewers overall, down about 5% vs. the same night a year ago. From 8 to 10 p.m., Fox beat its combined ABC-CBS-NBC-CW competition by 8 shares in 18-49, 25-54 and 18-34.

NBC put up the best fight among the also-rans as "Biggest Loser" (3.3/8 in 18-49, 8.2 million viewers overall) was up more than 10% week to week and matched its best delivery since "Idol" bowed last month. The Peacock was also a solid No. 1 at 10 o'clock with a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.3/9 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall), which beat up on its firstrun drama competition to post its highest rating for a rebroadcast since October 2006.

One of the shows "SVU" beat was CBS sophomore drama "Jericho" (2.0/5 in 18-49, 5.9 million viewers overall), which declined more than 20% from its OK week-earlier season premiere. It didn't get a lot of help from its lead-in, as "Big Brother" (1.9/4 in 18-49, 5.4 million viewers overall) fell to what looks to be the franchise's lowest-rated wweknight episode to date. Kicking off the night, a repeat "NCIS" (2.1/5 in 18-49, 10.8 million viewers overall) was the net's top performer.

ABC continues to struggle on the night, settling for a 1.2/3 in 18-49 and 4.6 million viewers overall with an hour of "Just for Laughs" in the opening hour, and not doing much better from 9 to 10 p.m. with original episodes of comedies "According to Jim" (1.6/4 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall) and "Carpoolers" (1.4/3 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall). At 10 p.m., a new hour of "Boston Legal" earned a 1.9/5 in 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers overall.

CW again ran third in various younger demos from 9 to 10 p.m. with "One Tree Hill" (1.3/3 in 18-49, 2.9 million viewers overall). From 8 to 10, "Hill" and a repeat of "Reaper" delivered a higher 18-34 average (1.3/3) than either ABC or CBS.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 11.2/27; NBC, 3.3/8; CBS, 2.0/5; Univision, 1.6/4; ABC, 1.5/4; CW, 1.0/3.

In total viewers: Fox, 28.8 million; NBC, 8.5 million; CBS, 7.4 million; ABC, 5.5 million; Univision, 3.7 million; CW, 2.4 million.