• by Wayne Friedman , February 14, 2008

CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler warned "Jericho" fans during the TV Critics Tour last summer that although the show was coming back--due to some consistent badgering by ardent fans--their job was not done. They needed to recruit new fans.

Now, after the show's debut on Tuesday, apparently there is more work to be done.

"Jericho" returned with a ho-hum 2.5 rating among 18-49 viewers--down 11% from its 2.8 last-season average and off 22% from a 3.2 rating for its first-season premiere. "Jericho" came in at second place at 10 p.m. to an NBC repeat of "Law & Order: SVU," which earned a 2.8 rating.

That wasn't all. CBS' premiere of "Big Brother: Til Death Do You Part" at 9 p.m. ran at about the same level as "Jericho," a 2.7/6 in 18-49 viewers.

Some analysts says viewers weren't entirely prepped by CBS--and blame the TV broadcast business as a whole--since new shows were affected by the writers' strike.

Still, most other analysts say it had more to do with another little show on the schedule: "American Idol."

Fox's "American Idol" continues to offer up its usual Tuesday night massive ratings--earning an 11.4 rating for 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and a 13.2 rating for 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Overall, that gave Fox an easy Tuesday night win with a 12.3 rating/29 share.

NBC was second at 2.8/7 for the night. It gamely tried to put up a fight against "Idol" with two hours of "Biggest Loser," earning a 2.8 at 8 p.m. and a 3.1 at 9 p.m.

For the night, CBS came in third at 2.5/6. Univision was fourth at 1.6/4. ABC was fifth at a 1.5/4, and CW finished sixth at 1.1/3.