Three major reality efforts took the stage again this night with big time results, lead by the finale of Fox's 9 p.m. "Hell's Kitchen," which posted a strong Nielsen 4.2 rating/12 share among 18-49 viewers, 14% more than the week before.
Nipping at "Kitchen"'s heels is ABC's surprise summer hit "Wipeout," which grabbed a strong 4.0/13, an 11% hike over the week ago, running at 8 p.m. NBC's "America's Got Talent" which runs against "Hell's Kitchen" at 9 p.m. took a 3.4/9, up one-tenth of a rating point from the week before.
Second-tier reality shows on the night, in the 2-plus rating range -- NBC's "Celebrity Family Feud" at 8 p.m. and ABC's "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" at 9 p.m. Fox's "Moment of Truth" also climbed week to week. "Feud" was at a 2.1/7, up 11%; "Japanese Game Show" stood at a 2.7/7, a 4% improvement; and "Truth" went to a 2.0/6, up 11% from the week before.
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All this put Fox and ABC in a neck-and-neck race on the night, with Fox nipping ABC at the line -- a 3.1/9 on the night to ABC's 3.0/9. NBC landed at a 2.5/7.
Farther down the list was CBS in rerun mode with "NCIS," "48 Hours Mystery" and "Without a Trace," which took the network to a 1.5/4 on the night.
In the back of the pack were CW and MyNetworkTV, which tied for fifth place at a 0.4/1 on the night.