'Idol' gives 'Amsterdam' a hand

Fox megahit helps out newbie drama

By RICK KISSELL

"American Idol" and good-enough results for a special preview of drama "New Amsterdam" carried Fox to another easy ratings victory on Tuesday, a night that also saw NBC's unscripted series "The Biggest Loser" on the rise.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "American Idol" averaged a 10.5 rating/26 share in adults 18-49 and 28.2 million viewers overall in the 8 o'clock hour, beating the combined demo delivery of ABC, CBS, NBC and CW by 9 shares. Following "Idol," "New Amsterdam" averaged a 4.6/11 in 18-49 and 13.7 million viewers overall, winning its hour in 18-49 but falling to second place (behind NBC's "Biggest Loser") in its second half-hour

"Loser" (3.5/9 in 18-49, 8.7 million viewers overall for its full two hours), taking advantage of anything but "Idol" airing in the 9 o'clock hour, grew to its best scores since Jan. 22. It went from a 2.8/7 in 18-49 and 8 o'clock to a first-place 4.4/11 in its final half-hour. The Peacock stayed on top in the 10 o'clock hour with a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2.9/8 in 18-49, 9.4 million viewers overall).

CBS ran third in 18-49 each hour with a repeat of "NCIS" (2.1/5 in 18-49, 10.6 million viewers overall) and firstrun offerings "Big Brother" (2.5/6 in 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall) and "Jericho" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.9 million viewers overall). After perking up last week opposite weaker competitiion, "Jericho" took a step back this week.

ABC continues to struggle on Tuesdays, especially early in the evening. "Just for Laughs" settled for a 1.3/3 in 18-49 and 4.9 million viewers overall in the opening hour, and the net improved a bit from 9 to 10 with "According to Jim" (1.9/5 in 18-49, 5.6 million viewers overall) and "Carpoolers" (1.5/4 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall). At 10, "Primetime: What Would You Do" (2.3/6 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall) was down from its premiere, but still placed second in its slot and built nicely on its lead-in.

CW's "One Tree Hill" (1.5/4 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall) took advantage of Fox's "Idol" vacating the 9 o'clock hour by posting some of its best demos of the season. In aduts 18-34, its 2.1 rating/6 share beat out both ABC and CBS programming and repped the drama's best result since its season premiere in January.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 7.5/18; NBC, 3.3/8; CBS, 2.1/5; ABC, 1.8/5; Univision, 1.5/4; CW, 1.1/3.

In total viewers: Fox, 20.9 million; NBC, 8.9 million; CBS, 7.7 million; ABC, 5.4 million; Univision, 3.5 million; CW, 2.3 million.