• by Wayne Friedman , March 17, 2008

Lower Thursday-night ratings still abound on network television-- made even worse with the loss of "American Idol," which has been trimmed to two nights per week.

With viewers still waiting for many original TV shows to ramp up, network schedules represent a hit-or-miss affair.

Only two big-rated original network shows took the stage on Thursday. ABC's "Lost" had its lowest rating of the season, a Nielsen preliminary 4.7 rating among 18-49 viewers (yet that was enough to make it the top-rated show of the night). CBS' "Survivor: Micronesia" took in a 4.2--up from a 4.0 season-low rating the week before. "Survivor" and "Lost" were the only four-rated-plus shows for the night.

Although ABC has been running a marketing campaign--talking about spring and fresh scripted shows that are soon to blossom--it didn't rub off on "Lost," down an eye-opening 13% from a 5.4 the week before.

In part, some TV executives blame the time change--daylight saving time--that occurred the weekend before. As a result, people aren't watching TV as much because they prefer to stay out later with the added daylight in early evening hours.

Overall, CBS won the night with a ho-hum 3.2 rating. After "Survivor," it ran reruns the rest of the night. One positive: With "Idol" out of the way, CBS was able to make gains this week--the only network to do so.

The next-biggest contenders were at 9 p.m., with Fox's "Don't Forget the Lyrics" and NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" tied for second place at 3.1. At 10 p.m., two new mid-season dramas fought it out, with ABC's "Eli Stone" just surpassing NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" with a 2.5 rating versus a 2.4.

ABC finished second on the night, at a 3.0/8; Fox was just behind CBS with a 2.9/8; NBC was fourth at 2.4/7; Univision earned a 1.6/4 and CW took in a 1.4/4.