• by Wayne Friedman , February 17, 2010

The Winter Olympics only got to a silver medal on Tuesday -- as the big NBC sports event went head to head with Fox's gold medal winner, "American Idol."

Where the Olympics had pulled in 28 million average viewers over the weekend, then 25 million on Monday, the Games sank to 19 million on Tuesday, according to Nielsen preliminary results.

"Idol" pulled away viewers for the Olympics, getting 23.6 million average viewers and a 9.1 rating/22 share among 18-49 viewers. That said, "Idol" itself was dinged a little bit -- down from a 10.1 rating from the Tuesday in the previous week, when Ellen DeGeneres made her judging "Idol" debut.

NBC's Olympics coverage dropped from its 7+ ratings among 18-49 viewers in the four days to a more modest 5.4 rating average/14 share on Tuesday.

Somewhat lost in the shuffle was ABC's "Lost" at 9 p.m., which hung on to a respectable 4.5/12 among 18-49 viewers at 9 p.m., dropping four-tenths of a ratings point from a week ago. ABC also stayed with originals at 10 p.m. with "the forgotten," getting to a 1.7/5 among 18-49 viewers.

All other network shows stayed on the sidelines in reruns. CBS' "NCIS" did the best of the bunch, with a 2.3/6.

For the night among 18-49 viewers, Fox earned a 9.1/22; NBC, a 5.4/14; ABC, a 2.6/7; CBS, a 1.8/5; Univision, a 1.8/4; and CW a 0.4/1. Fox also easily won among younger 18-34 viewers, posting a 7.7 rating/21 share.