• by Wayne Friedman , January 16, 2008

Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" lost some football muscle, but it is still toned.

The flying-high "Connor Chronicles" sank 45% on Monday versus its Sunday premiere, down to a 4.2 rating/10 share among adults 18-49 at 9 p.m. On Sunday, it soared to a big-time 7.7 rating, thanks to a monstrously big 14.5 rating lead-in on Sunday from the New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game.

Now settled into its regular time slot, "Terminator" came in second in the time period. But it did improve almost a full rating point on "Prison Break," which earned a 3.3 rating.

The winner at 9 p.m. was unexpected--NBC's "Deal or No Deal," with a strong 5.0 rating. But the good news for NBC extended earlier in the evening, as its "American Gladiators" posted a nice 4.6 number, which won its 8 p.m. time period.

At 8 p.m., ABC, with original programming, came in at third place, getting a 2.9/7 for "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann." CBS was in fourth place at 9 p.m., posting a financially sound 2.6/7, all from repeats of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Big Bang Theory."

The 10 p.m. time period went to CBS' "CSI: Miami" with a leading 4.3/11. NBC's "Medium" put up a 3.3/9; ABC was at a 2.0/5 for "October Road."

Overall, NBC won the night among 18-49s with a 4.3 rating/11 share. Fox landed in second place at 3.8/9, CBS was a close third at a 3.5/9, ABC fourth at 2.4/6, Univision fifth at 1.4/4, and CW sixth at 0.7/2.