• by Wayne Friedman , January 10, 2008

With fresh episodes of "Law & Order: SVU" and "The Biggest Loser," NBC easily dominated Tuesday night and continued its unlikely position of being the No. 1-rated network among 18-49 viewers in 2008.

NBC tallied a 4.6/12 for the night, easily outdistancing Fox at a 2.8/7. "SVU" had the best numbers of any show on Tuesday--a very healthy 5.1/14. "Loser" earned an almost equally strong 4.3/11.

With its season premiere of "One Tree Hill," CW ratcheted up from its usual last-place spot to grab a 1.5/4--the same number that "Hill" grabbed at 8 p.m. Another showing of "Hill" at 9 p.m. offered an uptick to a 1.6/4.

CBS came in third for the night, hurt by a record-low performance from "The People's Choice Awards." Left with only taped acceptance speeches from the winners--and other taped segments--the award show grabbed its worst-ever ratings--a 1.6/4 for the two-hour telecast.

It was a repeat night for Fox. But its high-flying "House" still earned a respectable 3.6/9 for its rerun. A "Bones" repeat took in a 2.0/5. ABC was at the bottom of the heap--even with fresh episodes of "Just for Laughs" and "Carpoolers." Those shows only grabbed a 1.8/5 and a 1.1/3, respectively.

NBC's sudden strength is due, in part, to the bonus of getting to telecast (along with CBS, and NFL Network) the historic Saturday night NFL game between the New England Patriots and New York Giants, which delivered for the Patriots an unbeaten season. In addition, NBC has been earning big, surprising numbers from a new version of "American Gladiators."

But NBC's good fortune is likely to change as top network dog, especially after Fox's network schedule-stomping machine "American Idol" returns this month.