Fox reality rules Tuesday

'Hell's Kitchen,' 'Truth' carry network to win

By RICK KISSELL

A dominant performance by "Hell's Kitchen" and another winning effort from "The Moment of Truth" carried Fox to an easy Tuesday demo victory.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "Hell's Kitchen" was far and away Tuesday's top-rated program among young adults (4.4 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall), matching its week-ago score despite a lower lead-in from "The Moment of Truth" (2.7/9 in 18-49, 6.7 million viewers overall). "Truth" led the 8 o'clock hour by 4 shares in 18-49, while "Kitchen" prevailed by 7 shares in the 9 o'clock hour.

CBS edged out NBC for second place in young adults on the night and led in overall total viewers, kicking off the night with a repeat "NCIS" (1.5/5 in 18-49, 9.1 million viewers overall) and a firstrun episode of "48 Hours Mystery" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 8.0 million viewers overall), which is filling the timeslot until summer vet "Big Brother" makes its debut in mid-July. At 10, "Without a Trace" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) slid into its intended fall time period with a share of the slot lead in 18-49.

At NBC, an hour of "Most Outrageous Moments" kicked off the night with a second-place finish (1.6/5 in 18-49, 5.7 million viewers overall), while a repeat "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" tied for the demo lead at 10 o'clock (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.9 million viewers overall).

ABC had a quiet night all around with its all-repeat lineup of "According to Jim" (1.5/5 in 18-49, 4.4 million viewers overall), "Samantha Who?" (1.3/4 in 18-49, 3.9 million viewers overall) and "Boston Legal" (1.1/3 in 18-49, 3.9 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 3.6/11; CBS, 1.7/5; NBC, 1.6/5; Univision, 1.4/4; ABC, 1.3/4; CW, 0.6/2.

In total viewers: CBS, 8.2 million; Fox, 8.0 million; NBC, 5.8 million; ABC, 4.1 million; Univision, 3.4 million; CW, 1.5 million.