No One Close to 'Idol' Wednesday

[Brian Damage]

American Idol" once again laid waste to its competition Wednesday, with no other network really even coming within shouting distance.

FOX drew an 18.8 rating/28 share for the night, better than the combined numbers of the other four broadcast networks. CBS was a distant second at 6.2/10. NBC, 5.3/8, came in third. ABC took fourth with a 3.4/5, while The CW trailed at 1.8/3.

In the adults 18-49 demographic, FOX's 13.9 rating left everyone else in the dust. NBC was second at 2.6, edging CBS' 2.5. ABC averaged 1.8 and The CW 1.1.

The first half of a two-hour "Idol" posted a 17.3/27 for FOX at 8 p.m. The season premiere of "George Lopez" and "According to Jim" each drew a 4.1/6 for ABC, a little better than "Friday Night Lights," 3.9/6, on NBC. "Armed & Famous" was fourth for CBS. The CW got a 1.9/3 from "Beauty and the Geek."

At 9 p.m., "American Idol" increased to 20.4/30. A "Criminal Minds" repeat on CBS finished second in households at 6.5/10, but NBC's "Deal or No Deal," 6.3/9, had more viewers. "The Knights of Prosperity and "In Case of Emergency" managed only a 2.3/3 for ABC. "One Tree Hill" came in fifth for The CW.