'Idol,' new dramas lift Fox for week

'American Idol''Touch'"The The American Idol Show ShowInch together with a trio of youthful dramas lifted Fox with a primetime ratings victory the other day in the frame that saw the majority of the top shows on competing systems air repeats. While "Idol" is constantly track at well below last year's start, still finished near the top of the ratings charts for your week. Furthermore the web, "Alcatraz" organized well within the second outing, "Idol" aided Kiefer Sutherland drama "Touch" open nicely on Wednesday, and "Bones" spinoff "The Finder" hit a greater on Thursday. It absolutely was furthermore a sizable week for "The Big Bang Theory," since the CBS comedy totalled up its best Thursday amounts so far and again beat "Idol" mind-to-mind in demos. Also, numerous repeats in the show lifted The very best spinner's towards the peak devote youthful-adult rankings among cablers. Overall, according to Nielsen, Fox introduced in grownups 18-49 (3. rating/8 share) -- well before CBS (2./6), NBC (1.8/5), ABC (1.6/4) and Univision (1.3/3). Internet also folded in grownups 25-54 (3.4/8 to 2.8/7 for CBS) while CBS introduced in general audiences (9.3 million to eight million for Fox). The Wednesday hour of "The The American Idol Show ShowInch was the week's No. 1 show in 18-49 (6.5/18) and total audiences (19.67 million) -- lower 8% in the opening hour 7 days earlier and off 24% within the comparable hour this past year. "Idol" introduced in to a special preview of "Touch" that completed well (3.9/10, 12.01m) just before its March 19 premiere, and "The Finder" discovered its best scores within the three airings (2.8/7, 8.44m), reaping helpful benefits from drama repeats round the competish. Prison drama "Alcatraz" (3./7, 9.03m) meshed well with "House" (3.1/8, 8.76m), retaining 94% of the 18-49 premiere rating it joins "Not such a long time ago" and "Terra Nova" since the season's only rookie dramas to earn a demo score of three or greater inside their second activities. Round the weekend, Fox got a sizable boost Saturday from UFC action (2.4/8, 4.66m), roughly matching the combined demos round the evening for ABC, CBS and NBC. Fox's Sunday selection looked sluggish, while using third week of "Napoleon Dynamite" (2.1/5, 4.42m) softish between "The Simpsons" (2.4/6, 5.03m) and "Family Guy" (3.1/7, 5.92m). CBS stepped onto Wednesday with "Criminal Minds" (3.7/9, 13.81m) and "CSI" (3.4/9, 14.26m) the 2nd, inside the swan-song seg for original cast member Marg Helgenberger, acquired the most effective amounts for just about any regular 10 p.m. drama on any internet and evening this season. "The Big Bang Theory" (5.5/16 in 18-49, 16.13m) toppled Fox's "Idol" mind-to-mind (5.5 versus. 4.9 in 18-49 and 6.9 versus. 6. in 25-54), striking its best scores since moving to Thursday. And lead-out laffer "Make the most ofInch held steady within the third week (3.5/9, 11.50m) -- many, especially facing "Idol."NBC was quiet until Sunday, when the NFL's Professional Bowl won the evening (4.3/11 in 18-49, 12.50m), though lower year upon year. Earlier, the net's Wednesday comedy hour of "Whitney" (1.4/4, 4.40m) and "Are You Currently Presently There, Chelsea" (1.4/4, 3.80m) dipped further inside their third week together, and "Chuck" ended its run Friday getting a season high (1.3/4, 4.31m). ABC was paced by "Not such a long time ago" (3.5/8, 10.91m), Sunday's No. 1 series in demos. Also, "The Bachelor" hit some season levels (2.7/7, 8.30m), and Friday's choice of "Shark Tank" (1.5/5, 5.44m), "Primetime: How Does One React?Inch (1.7/5, 5.17m) and "20/20" (1.5/4, 5.73m) looked good inside their second week together. In cable, "Jersey Shoreline" (3.8/10, 6.53m) centered its Thursday hour and ranked sixth for your week in 18-49. "Kourtney and Kim Take NY" wrapped its season Sunday using the best scores ever with an E! series (2.6/6, 4.48m), leading all television within the slot among women 25-54 (3.5/6). It absolutely was an excellent week for Bravo's "Real Regular folks,Inch as Monday's Beverly Slopes edition (1.6/4 in 18-49, 3.03m) was cable's No. 1 show in the evening in women 25-54 (2.5/6). And Sunday's Atlanta version (2.1/5, 3.95m) totalled in the second greatest aud for nearly any episode in "RH" history. Discovery again shined on Friday with "Gold Hurry" (1.7/5, 4.24m) leading into "Bering Sea Gold" (1.4/4, 3.66m), which saw the net's finest-rated series launch so far no shows on television your evening came more teens. ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars" (1.4/4, 3.17m) was the week's No. 1 cable drama in 18-49 on Thursday, CNN's Republican debate came 5.36 million audiences, the net's greatest aud with this particular election cycle as well as the SAG Honours on Sunday came 5.13 million audiences on TNT and also the best spinner's, up just a little from a year ago (5.01m). Contact Ron Kissell at ron.kissell@variety.com