'Big Bang' Tops 'Idol,' NBC Trails

Big-Bang-TheoryHas "American Idol" finally met its match -- with a bang?

For the second consecutive week, Fox's "American Idol" on Thursday was bested by CBS' strong sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" in key viewer demographics -- total viewers and 18-49 viewers -- in the common half-hour the shows compete in from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

"Bang" notched a Nielsen preliminary 5.4 rating/15 share versus "Idol" with a 4.8/14 among 18-49 viewers. "Bang" also did better with total viewers -- 15.96 million to 15.46 million --  as well as younger viewers, at 4.0/13 versus a 3.4/11.

CBS' new sitcom for the night "Rob" continued to post solid numbers among 18-49 viewers. For the second week in a row, the show took in a 3.5/9, as well as slightly higher viewers at 11.58 million.

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Still, when looking at the "Idol" entire hour-long results show, this will probably average a higher 18-49 rating -- a 5.5 rating number -- given its 6.0 rating in the half-hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. "Idol" will average 17 million viewers when the final tally is done.

Plus, Fox will win the night, as it usually does on Thursday night -- with a 4.2 rating to CBS' 2.8 rating.

This is partly due to Fox running another original show at  9 p.m., the "Bone" spinoff, "The Finder," which grabbed a 2.9/9 number, winning the time period, while CBS was in reruns from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

NBC went with originals -- except for "Up All Night" at 9:30 p.m. -- and continues to lag the top networks, with shows well under the 2 rating mark, averaging a 1.4 rating. In order from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. "30 Rock" was at a 1.6/4; "Parks & Recreation" at 1.7/4; "30 Rock" scored 1.9/5; "Up All Night" took a 1.4/3, and "The Firm" earned a 1.0/3.

ABC was in reruns the entire night, averaging a 1.2 rating among 18-49 viewers. CW ran a repeat of "The Covenant" movie, which earned a 0.5/1.

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