TV Ratings: 'American Idol,' 'Glee' dominate Tuesday for FOX

'Parenthood' gets a bump and wins the 10 p.m. hour in the demo

By Daniel Fienberg Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010 10:45 AM

Jane Lynch of 'Glee'

Credit: FOX

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, April 20, 2010.

With "American Idol" doing its usual Tuesday work and "Glee" retaining an impressive percentage of its lead-in, particularly in the young adult demos, FOX easily outdistanced the competition for the night.

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 6.0 rating, nearly doubling the 3.2 rating for second place NBC. ABC was a close third in the coveted demographic with a 2.8 rating. CBS' 1.7 rating and the 0.4 rating for The CW followed.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 16.32 million viewers and a 9.3 rating/15 share. ABC and CBS both posted a 6.1/10 for second, with ABC holding the advantage in total viewers. NBC's 5.0/8 was good for fourth. The CW's 0.7/1 trailed.

"American Idol" controlled the 8 p.m. hour for FOX with 10.7/17, drawing 19.14 million viewers and a 6.7 demo rating, all numbers roughly comparable to last week's "Idol" audience for the hour. ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" was second overall with an 8.8/14. CBS' "NCIS" repeat had a 6.4/10 for third. Fourth place went to NBC's "The Biggest Loser," which had a 4.5/7 and actually finished second for the hour in the demo. The CW's repeat of "90210" trailed.

In the 9 p.m. hour, FOX's "Glee" did a 7.9/12 and a 5.3 demo rating. [Note that much to the chagrin of DVR users, "Idol" ran into the hour and impacted the first half-hour of the "Glee" ratings, while the show still held onto a 7.2/11 and a 5.0 demo rating in the 9:30 half-hour.] CBS' repeat of "NCIS: Los Angeles" was second for the hour. Both ABC's "Lost" and NBC's "The Biggest Loser" did a 5.8/9 for third, but the NBC reality show drew more viewers (9.56 to 9.35 million) and did a better demo number (3.8 rating to 3.6 rating). The CW's repeat of "Life Unexpected" was fifth with a 0.6/1.

In the 10 p.m. hour, CBS' repeat of "The Good Wife" did a 5.2/9 to win the hour overall. NBC's newly renewed "Parenthood" got a strong week-to-week bump and won the hour in the key demo with a 2.9 rating, delivering a 4.7/8 overall. ABC's "V" had a 3.9/7 with 6.03 million viewers, very slightly up from last week.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.