• by Wayne Friedman , March 6, 2009

For the second week in a row, Fox's special edition of "American Idol" nicely disrupted the usual Thursday night network competitors.

"Idol" posted a Nielsen preliminary 7.6/20 among 18-49 viewer--up from a 7.1/19 the week before. CBS' "Survivor: Tocantins" came in a bit lower versus a week ago, at 3.9/10 versus a 3.9/11. Overall, viewers of the big reality show went to 11.9 million from 12.1 million.

Other competitors were way down the list: NBC's "My Name is Earl" took a 2.2/6 and ABC's "Ugly Betty" came in below that at a 1.8/5--a new series low. NBC's second half-hour, "Kath & Kim," against "Idol," didn't do much better than "Betty," at a 1.8/5.

Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" had an improvement from "Idol" this week to a 4.7/12, from a 4.3/11 the week before. That earned it a strong second place to CBS' "CSI," which earned a 5.3/13. With ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" in repeats, "Kitchen" had some room to move--as well as NBC's "The Office," which took in a nice 4.5/11.

This also helped "30 Rock" move up the board with a 3.8/9--its best numbers since last November, coming off the halo effect of Tiny Fey's big presence.

NBC also did well with "E.R."--just a few weeks away from its series-ending episode. It took a 3.5/9, winning the time period ahead of CBS' "Eleventh Hour," which earned a 3.0/8. ABC was also in rerun mode for its "Private Practice" show this night, which earned a 1.3/4 rating.

The night ended with Fox winning Thursday with a 6.1/16 among 18-49 viewers. CBS was next with a 4.1/11; NBC took a 3.2/8; ABC earned a 1.6/5; Univision was just behind at a 1.5/4; and CW finished with a 0.8/2.

Among 18-34 viewers, Fox was again tops, at 5.0/14. NBC took second place with a 3.0/9, and CBS was next at a 2.6/8. Univision was better than ABC here--a 1.6/5 to a 1.3/4. CW earned a 0.9/3.