NEW YORK - Not only is Fox's "American Idol" dominating prime time again, it may help determine the fates of programs lucky or unlucky enough to be in its path.
The talent show took two of the three top spots in Nielsen Media Research's top 10 last week, with only CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" in its league.
Another Fox series, "House," has the good fortune to follow right after "American Idol" on Tuesdays. That has helped the freshman medical drama gain a solid footing; its 15 million viewers last week ranked it the 15th most popular prime-time show.
The ABC comedies "George Lopez" and "My Wife and Kids" have the misfortune of being scheduled directly opposite "American Idol" on Tuesdays, and are suffering for it. They both had barely 6 million viewers last week, ranking Nos. 75 and 77 for the week.
Despite the beginning of a new presidential campaign, NBC's "The West Wing" has sagged, reaching 9.6 million viewers last week. It's in the same Wednesday time slot as "American Idol."
And in an interesting tale of how similar numbers can mean dramatically different things, consider the WB's "Gilmore Girls" and CBS' "Joan of Arcadia."
"Gilmore Girls" was seen by 6.3 million people - a terrific number by the WB's standards and evidence of the show's revival.
Meanwhile, "Joan of Arcadia" - the surprise rookie hit of last season - had 7.2 million viewers. For the CBS series, that represents a dramatic ratings decline and means a show once thought to be a potential mainstay could be in trouble.
CBS won the week with an average of 13.5 million viewers (8.7 rating, 14 share), and finished a close second to Fox among viewers aged 18 to 49. NBC (7.0 rating, 11 share) and Fox (6.3, 10), both averaged 10.4 million viewers. ABC had 10.1 million (7.2, 10), the WB 3.6 million (2.4, 4), UPN 3.2 million (2.2, 3) and Pax TV 620,000 (0.4, 1).
NBC's "Nightly News" narrowly won the evening news ratings race, averaging 10.2 million viewers to ABC's "World News Tonight's" 10.15 million (both 7.1 rating, 13 share). The "CBS Evening News" had 7.5 million (5.3, 10).
A ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 109.6 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Feb. 7-13. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (1) "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 28.8 million viewers.
2. (2) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 27.9 million viewers.
3. (3) "American Idol" (Wednesday)," Fox, 26.1 million viewers.
4. (4) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 22.3 million viewers.
5. (6) "Without a Trace," CBS, 19.6 million viewers.
6. (13) "Lost," ABC, 19.5 million viewers.
7. (5) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 18.8 million viewers.
8. (X) "Grammy Awards," CBS, 18.8 million viewers.
9. (8) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 17.5 million viewers.
10. (9) "ER," NBC, 17.1 million viewers.
11. (11) "Two And a Half Men," CBS, 16.7 million viewers.
12. (X) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (Thursday, 8 p.m.)," CBS, 16.7 million viewers.
13. (21) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 16.5 million viewers.
14. (17) "The Apprentice 3," NBC, 15.1 million viewers.
15. (66) "House," Fox, 15 million viewers.
16. (19) "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 14.2 million viewers.
17. (14) "Medium," NBC, 14 million viewers.
18. (27) "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," NBC, 13.5 million viewers.
19. (21) "Law & Order," NBC, 13.2 million viewers.
20. (18) "CSI: NY," CBS, 13.1 million viewers.
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