TV Ratings: ‘American Idol’ clobbers Thursday repeats

Fast National ratings for Thursday, March 3, 2011.

The drama of revealing the season’s Top 13, plus a slew of repeats on every other network helped “American Idol” reach recent highs and help FOX score a commanding Thursday night win in any and all measures.

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged an 8.1 rating, far ahead of the combined totals for CBS (2.0 rating), NBC (1.4 rating), ABC (1.2 rating) and The CW (0.4 rating) in the coveted demographic.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 24.96 million viewers and a 13.7 rating/22 share. That was far better than the combined viewerships for CBS (9.3 million), ABC (4.04 million), NBC (3.01 million) and The CW (1.155 million) for the night.

8 p.m. – The first hour of “American Idol” delivered 23.6 million viewers and a 7.6 rating among adults 18-49 for FOX. A repeat of “The Big Bang Theory” (9.17 million and a 2.5 demo) and a new “Rules of Engagement” (8.32 million and a 2.3 demo) finished second. ABC’s “Wipeout” repeat was a distant third with 5.01 million viewers, still beating the nearly 3 million viewers for a pair of “Office” repeats on NBC. The CW’s “Vampire Diaries” repeat averaged 1.17 million viewers.

9 p.m. – The second hour of “American Idol” soared to 26.31 million viewers and an 8.7 rating in the key demographic for FOX. CBS was a distant second again with 8.73 million viewers and a 1.8 demo rating for a “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” repeat. ABC’s repeat of “Grey’s Anatomy” averaged 3.97 million viewers and topped the 3.17 million for NBC’s two “Office” repeats. The CW’s repeat of “Nikita” averaged 1.14 million viewers.

10 p.m. – CBS grabbed first in the 10 p.m. hour with 10.43 million viewers and a 1.9 demo rating for a “Mentalist” repeat. ABC’s “Private Practice” repeat was second overall with 3.14 million viewers, but third in the demo. NBC’s two “Office” repeats averaged 2.96 million and finished second in the key demo.