'Idol' Death Star Returns

[Brian Damage]

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007

"American Idol" defied the natural order of things yet again Tuesday, as its season premiere was even bigger than last year's.

FOX utterly dominated the night's ratings with a 20.3 rating/30 share in households; the 37.3 million who watched the two-hour premiere was up over last year's 35.5 million. CBS was the best of the rest at 7.8/12, followed by NBC at 6.5/10. ABC, 4.6/7, came in fourth, while The CW trailed with a meager 1.1/2.

In the adults 18-49 demographic, FOX's 15.7 rating was miles better than even the combined total of the other four networks. CBS, 3.2, was a distant second, with NBC in third at 2.9. ABC averaged 2.1 and The CW only 0.6.

The first hour of "American Idol" delivered an 18.8/28 at 8 p.m. The relatively "Idol"-proof "NCIS" scored a 10.2/15 for CBS. NBC took third with "Dateline," 4.9/7. ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" was fourth, topping a "Gilmore Girls" repeat on The CW.

At 9 p.m., "Idol" increased to 21.3/32, topping 41 million viewers in its final half-hour. CBS stayed in second with "The Unit," 7.6/11. A rerun of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" drew a 5.5/8 for NBC. A second hour of "Home Videos," 3.8/6, kept ABC in fourth. The CW aired a "Veronica Mars" rerun.

With FOX done for the night, NBC won the 10 p.m. hour with "Law & Order: SVU," 9.2/15. "Boston Legal" posted a 6.4/10 for ABC, beating out CBS' "48 Hours Mystery," 5.6/9.