• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 17, 2006

NBC's "The Book of Daniel" may be off the air soon--more because of Nielsen issues than sins against a higher power.

Ratings for the controversial drama dropped 23 percent Friday among adults 18-49 versus its Jan. 6 premiere. With a 2.2 mark, the show lost 36 percent of its "Dateline" lead-in. (Viewers declined by two million, or 29 percent, compared to the week before.)

A call to NBC on Monday was not returned; the network's Web site says the show is scheduled to air this Friday.

The drama about a liberal Episcopalian priest who pops pills and has a gay son sparked a protest by the conservative American Family Association, which charged that it "demeans the Christian faith." The AFA urged people to call their local NBC affiliates and ask them not to air the show, which several stations did. The group also targeted advertisers that supported the show's first episode.

But in the end, the declining ratings may do the AFA's bidding.

"The real mark against 'The Book of Daniel' is not any antipathy it might show toward the family or sympathy for the devil," wrote The New York Times. "The real objection is that it's just not very good."