• by Wayne Friedman , October 19, 2007

NBC's high-profile "Bionic Woman" lost power, and some new ABC shows also fell--but CBS made improvements.

"Woman" is now down 13% versus the week before, and off 42% from its premiere to a Nielsen live-program-plus-same day 3.4 rating/9 share among 18-49 viewers. That moves it into third place in the Wednesday 9 p.m. time period--and NBC says those numbers are still higher than what it earned in the time period of a year ago.

While ABC's "Private Practice" still won against "Woman" and CBS' "Criminal Minds," as well as all shows on the night, the show also lost grownups--down 8% to a 4.4/11. ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money," now at a 3.0/8 at 10 p.m., lost 9% from its numbers the week before.

ABC had a better time with its new 8 p.m. drama "Pushing Daisies" with a 3.7/10, staying about even with its numbers of a week before. All that gave ABC a night-leading 3.7/10, down a bit from a week before.

CBS was in second place with a 3.5/9--the only network up overall from the week before. "Criminal Minds" is now firmly in second place at 9 p.m. with a 4.0/10. Its "CSI: NY" easily won the 10 p.m. time period with a 4.1/11. Somewhat surprisingly, "Kid Nation"--with a 2.4/7 at 8 p.m.--picked up a bit from the week before.

NBC was in third place with a 3.1/8. While "Bionic" fell, NBC's other rookie show of the evening stopped the bleeding--"Life" rose slightly to a 2.8/8 this week, good enough for third place at 10 p.m.

While the 9 p.m. hour has been intensely competitive, Fox has been able to hold its position with "Kitchen Nightmares"--now with a 3.1/8 and closing in on "Bionic Woman." Fox earned a 2.8/8 for the entire evening.

CW's "America's Next Top Model" scored a 2.5/7 in 18-49 viewers, as well as winning women 18-34 with a 4.3/13, and coming in second among all 18-34 viewers at a 2.8/9. The network's "Gossip Girl" was flat with a 1.2/3 in 18-49 viewers and 1.7/5 in 18-34. Overall, the CW was at a 1.8/5.

MyNetworkTV with "Decision House" and movie "Meet My Folks" pulled together a collective 0.3/1 for the night.