'House' Arrest: Fox Sweeps Tuesday, NBC Heads To Second

With no "Dancing with the Stars" in its hip pocket, ABC retreated on Tuesday, as Fox's all-powerful "House" took center stage.

With a preliminary 6.8 rating for "House," the night's best-rated network show, Fox grabbed a 4.6 average rating and 12 share among 18-49 viewers for the night. NBC was next at 3.6/9, ABC was in the third spot at 3.4/9, and CBS was behind those numbers at a 3.3/9, CW fifth at 1.9/5 and Univision sixth at 1.6/4.

ABC didn't have much luck with its new comedy/drama, "Big Day," which earned a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49 in the 9 p.m. time slot. ABC did a lot better at 8 p.m. with the always-popular "Charlie Brown Christmas," which did a solid 4.8 rating among 18-49 viewers.

Perhaps more alarming for ABC was that its rookie sitcom, "Help Me Help You," at 9:30 p.m. lost the wind in its sails--barely drifting at a 1.8 rating, far off its 3.1 average.

NBC did its best work at 10 p.m. with a 5.2 for "Law & Order: SVU." ABC's "Boston Legal" grabbed a 3.0 rating during that hour. Next came CBS' new drama "3 Lbs." at a sub-three 2.4 rating.

advertisement

advertisement

While "Big Day" was having its troubles, other rookie shows were in the same boat on Tuesday night. In addition to the 2.4 rating for "3lbs," two 8 p.m. shows offered up similar data: NBC with a 2.4 for "Friday Night Lights" and Fox with a 2.3 for "Standoff."

The CW had much more to cheer about.

The "Gilmore Girls" pulled in season-high numbers for 18-49s and 18-34s, while "Veronica Mars" pulled in its best numbers ever for its key 18-34 audience. Among 18-49 viewers, "Girls" pulled a 2.2/6 with "Mars" getting a 1.6/4. Overall for the night, the network grabbed its best Tuesday to date, with a 2.0/6 among the network's key 18-34 viewers.

Next story loading loading..