'Idol' crushes competition in ratings

Fox nabs victory in key categories

By RICK KISSELL

A two-hour edition of "American Idol" carried Fox to victory in all key categories on Wednesday, though ABC's "Lost," CBS' "Criminal Minds" and NBC's "The Biggest Loser" all posted solid results opposite the juggernaut.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "American Idol," whose Tuesday episode was preempted by President Obama's address to the nation, averaged an 8.9 rating/23 share in adults 18-49 and 24.3 million viewers overall from 8 to 10 p.m., beating its combined ABC-CBS-NBC-CW competition by 2 shares in 18-49. "Idol" peaked in 18-49 during the 9:30 half-hour with a 9.6 rating/23 share.

At ABC, "Lost" is projected to come in with a 4.5 rating/11 share in adults 18-49 and about 10 million viewers overall for its slightly expanded episode from 9 to 10:06 p.m., standing as the evening's top-rated scripted program in 18-49 as well as 25-54 and 18-34. The net continues to struggle in Wednesday's final hour, where a shorter episode of "Life on Mars" is expected to average a meager 1.7/5 in 18-49 and 5.2 million viewers overall from 10:06 to 11.

CBS opened slowly with repeats of "New Adventures of Old Christine" (1.5/4 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall) and "Gary Unmarried" (1.7/4 in 18-49, 6.0 million viewers overall) before moving up to second or third place in various categories with "Criminal Minds" (3.4/8 in 18-49, 14.0 million viewers overall), which was the night's most-watched scripted program overall. At 10, "CSI: NY" (3.1/9 in 18-49, 12.7 million viewers overall) dipped a bit from its lead-in but put CBS in first place.

NBC's special episode of "The Biggest Loser" at 8 p.m. delivered the net's best numbers in the timeslot (3.3/9 in 18-49, 8.7 (excluding the Olympics) in 13 months (excluding the Olympics), running second to "Idol" in the time period. The net then took a tumble at 9 with an original episode of "Life" (1.6/4 in 18-49, 4.9 million viewers overall), and didn't do much better with a repeat "Law & Order" at 10 (1.7/5 in 18-49, 5.7 million viewers overall).

CW was again not a factor with repeats of "Privileged" and "90210."

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: Fox, 8.9/23; ABC and CBS, 2.7/7; NBC, 2.6/7; Univision, 1.5/4; CW, 0.3/1.

In total viewers: Fox, 24.3 million; CBS, 10.9 million; ABC, 6.8 million; NBC, 6.4 million; Univision, 3.8 million; CW, 0.7 million.