Tuesday reality on the rise

Fox reigns supreme with 'Idol,' 'Kitchen'

By RICK KISSELL

With NBC's tough "The Biggest Loser" wrapping its season a week ago, competing unscripted shows on other nets spiked up in the ratings Tuesday, with Fox again reigning supreme with "American Idol" and "Hell's Kitchen."

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, Fox's "American Idol" (8.8 rating/24 share in adults 18-49, 24.0 million viewers overall) and "Hell's Kitchen" (5.1/13 in 18-49, 11.1 million viewers overall) should both finish up week to week, winning each half-hour from 8 to 10 p.m. in 18-49 and younger demos.

ABC, which started slowly with "According to Jim" (1.4/4 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall), saw the "Dancing With the Stars" results show spike to season highs at 9 (4.0/10 in 18-49, 17.5 million viewers overall), no doubt aided by not having the face the conclusion of "Biggest Loser." And at 10, "Boston Legal" (2.8/8 in 18-49, 10.5 million viewers overall) placed second with its best demo score since November.

CBS was a solid second in most categories at 8 o'clock with "NCIS" (2.9/8 in 18-49, 14.1 million viewers overall) and then placed third with "Big Brother" (2.4/6 in 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall), which was up slightly week to week with its final Tuesday installment of the season. "Brother" meshed badly with "Shark," though, as the first airing of the drama — a repeat — settled for tiny scores in its new timeslot (1.1/3 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall).

NBC felt the loss of "Biggest Loser" as a 90-minute repeat of "Best of Saturday Night Live: Chris Farley" delivered modest numbers from 8:30 to 10 p.m. (1.6/4 in 18-49, 3.9 million viewers overall). It contributed to lower-than-usual scores at 10 o'clock for a firstrun "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.0/11 in 18-49, 11.5 million viewers overall), though the vet crime drama dominated the time period.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 6.9/18; ABC, 2.7/7; NBC, 2.3/6; CBS, 2.1/6; Univision, 1.7/4; CW, 0.9/2.

In total viewers: Fox, 17.8 million; ABC, 10.7 million; CBS, 8.5 million; NBC, 6.5 million; Univision, 3.9 million; CW, 2.1 million.