TV Ratings: Grand Ole Tuesday win for FOX's 'American Idol'

Ryan Seacrest of 'American Idol'

Credit: FOX

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

Grand Ole Opry Night on FOX's "American Idol" had no trouble crushing its Tuesday night rivals, but if you're looking for one of the spring's most interesting running storylines, FOX's reality juggernaut drew an almost identical number of viewers on Tuesday to the audience ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" pulled in on Monday.

Among adults 18-49, FOX drew an 8.0 rating, far ahead of the 3.3 rating for NBC, CBS' 2.9 rating and the 2.2 rating for ABC. The CW was last in the key demographic with a 0.6 rating.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 21.54 million viewers and a 12.1 rating/19 share. CBS was a solid second with a 9.1/15, followed by the 6.2/10 for ABC. NBC's 5.7/9 was a close fourth. The CW's 0.9/1 was not a close fifth.

In the 8 p.m. hour, FOX's "American Idol" did an 11.6/19 to comfortable win the hour. CBS' "NCIS" had a 9.7/16 for second. A recap of Monday's "Dancing with the Stars" was third for ABC, beating the 4.6/7 for the first hour of "Biggest Loser: Couples" on NBC. The CW's "Reaper" had a 1.2/2 for fifth.

"American Idol" was up to a 12.7/19 in the 9 p.m. hour for FOX. CBS' "The Mentalist" was second with a 9.8/15. The first "Dancing with the Stars" results episode of the season was third with an 8.1/12 (fourth in the key demo), beating the second hour of "Biggest Loser: Couples" on NBC and The CW's "90210" repeat.

CBS moved into first in the 10 p.m. hour with a 7.7/13 for "Without a Trace." NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" was a close second with a 7.1/12 and also won the hour in the 18-49 demo. ABC's "What Would You Do?" special got a slight "Dancing" bump, but still finished a distant third.

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

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Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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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.