• by Wayne Friedman , April 17, 2008

NBC's finale of "The Biggest Loser" was able to nick up "American Idol" a bit with its best rating of the season.

"Loser" took in a Nielsen Media Research 4.4 rating/11 share from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. among 18-49 viewers. This pushed "Idol" down, registering a less dominating 8.8/23.

At this level, "Idol" was at its lowest rating for a Tuesday edition since its second season in 2003. "Hell's Kitchen", which followed "Idol" on Fox with a 4.7/12, was also down week to week, and came in second in the 9 p.m. time period.

"Loser" peaked in its second hour at 9 p.m.--winning the time period with a 5.1, after earning a respectable 3.7 in the first hour against "Idol."

After the dust cleared, Fox still took top honors for the night with a 6.8/17. NBC was second with a 4.5/12.

ABC continues to struggle. A "Dancing with The Stars" results show had a season low of 3.6/9 at 9 p.m. Two original episodes at 8 p.m. of "According to Jim" posted 1.2/3 and 1.3/3 ratings, respectively. ABC ended the night at a 2.3/6 tied for third with CBS.

CBS' best was with "NCIS" at a 3.1/8 at 8 p.m. "Big Brother" could only muster a 2.3/6 at 9 p.m. against stiff reality competition.

NBC won 10 p.m. honors with "Law & Order" with a 4.7/13, thanks to some good lead-in audience numbers from the high-flying "Loser." CW registered a 0.7/2 for the night for an original "Beauty and the Geek" and a rerun of "Reaper."

MyNetworkTV's two reruns of "Street Patrol" and two reruns of "Jail" averaged a 0.4/1 for the night.