Hot Topics:

Audiences continue 'Idol' worship

Fox megahit crushes competition

News Corp. raises Premiere stake

Al Jazeera reporter wins U.K. prize

Kirch seeks peace with opponents

Hit Ent. to build Dubai theme park

BSkyB to appeal against ITV ruling

'Burn Notice' gets renewal(1325 views)

Swiss OK Polanski move to chalet(887 views)

Pearce hops on to 'Hungry Rabbit Jumps'(727 views)

'It' is 3D's lost opportunity(690 views)

Ninja Assassin(643 views)

Fox made it look ridiculously easy again Wednesday night, as another two-hour edition of "American Idol" crushed everything in its path, including competing reality series on ABC, CBS, NBC and CW.

From 8 to 10 p.m., "American Idol" averaged an 11.1 rating/27 share in adults 18-49 and 28.7 million viewers overall, beating its combined ABC-CBS-NBC-CW competition by 9 shares in adults 18-49. In its opening hour it demolished unscripted skeins "Wife Swap" on ABC (2.1/5 in 18-49, 5.6 million viewers overall), "Deal or No Deal" on NBC (2.1/5 in 18-49, 8.9 million viewers overall), "Big Brother" on CBS (1.9/5 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) and the tenth-season premiere of "America's Next Top Model" on CW (1.9/5 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall).

"Top Model" posted its lowest debut scores since its third edition but still placed second in its hour among adults 18-34 (2.5/7).

In the 9 o'clock hour, "Idol" easily disposed of ABC's "Supernanny" (2.3/6 in 18-49, 6.8 million viewers overall) and crime dramas "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" on NBC (1.9/5 in 18-49, 7.7 million viewers overall) and "Criminal Minds" on CBS (1.9/5 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall). Well behind was CW's repeat of "Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious" (0.8/2 in 18-49, 1.9 million viewers overall), although it fared a bit better than it did in its Monday premiere.

NBC then moved to the lead at 10 o'clock with a new episode of "Law & Order" (3.1/8 in 18-49, 10.8 million viewers overall), followed by CBS' repeat of "CSI: NY" (2.0/5 in 18-49, 7.4 million viewers overall) and ABC's firstrun "Cashmere Mafia" (1.6/4 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall). Beginning next week, "Men in Trees" will air in the hour for the Alphabet.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 11.1/27; NBC, 2.4/6; ABC, 2.0/5; CBS, 1.9/5; Univision, 1.6/4; CW, 1.4/3.

In total viewers: Fox, 28.7 million; NBC, 9.2 million; CBS, 6.7 million; ABC, 5.5 million; Univision, 3.9 million; CW, 2.8 million.