• by Paul Gough , February 18, 2003

When the title character of Joe Millionaire picked his mate Monday night, it was clear that sweeps viewers had made their decision, too: Fox came up big.

According to overnight “fast affiliate” ratings by Nielsen Media Research, Fox carried the night with a 29 share/34.6 million viewers compared to CBS’ 14 share/15.6 million, NBC’s 13 share/13.5 million and ABC’s 10 share/9.7 million. Among adults 18-49, the night averaged 17.6/36 for Fox, 5.7/12 for NBC, 5.2/11 for CBS, 3.4/7 for ABC. Fox won the night in key demographics: adults 18-49, total viewers and households, adults 18-34, adults 25-54, teens, men and women from 18-54.

And it wasn’t a powderpuff night, either, but rather one of the toughest matchups of the TV season, with dueling Michael Jackson profiles on NBC and ABC plus the strong CBS drama CSI: Miami. Television usage among adults 18-49 was up 12% compared to last Monday.

Fast-affiliate ratings included a 46 share in Atlanta and Cleveland, 41 in San Francisco, 34 in Los Angeles and 33 in Chicago.

A two-hour edition of Dateline featuring “Michael Jackson Unmasked” scored a 6.2/13 among adults 18-49 and 14.6 million viewers overall. ABC’s rebroadcast of its Michael Jackson documentary scored a 3.5.

The first hour of Joe Millionaire featured a 14/9/32 among adults 18-49 and 16.1/39 among adults 18-34. The second hour, which started at 9 p.m., rose to 20.4/40 among adults 18-49 and 22/48 among adults 18-34. Fox said it was the networks’ highest rated entertainment program ever among adults 18-49 and total viewers. Among adults 18-49, Joe Millionaire was the highest-rated entertainment program on any network in more than two years, since the Survivor 2 program on CBS after the Super Bowl.