ABC's "Wipeout" started the ball rolling with a big-time Nielsen Media Research preliminary 3.5 rating/11 share among adult 18-49 viewers at 8 p.m. Although "Wipeout" is down a bit, it kept itself well ahead of other shows--now a rating point and a half more than its nearest competitor, NBC's "Celebrity Family Feud," which earned a 2.0/6 in 18-49 viewers.
At 9 p.m., the other big reality show of the summer, NBC's "America's Got Talent," took over with a 3.6/10--not only the biggest-rated show of the night but the show's best numbers of the summer so far. (Last week it earned a 3.4/10.) It put a major crimp into other 9 p.m. shows--ABC's "I Survived a Japanese Game Show," which took in a 2.3/6, and CBS' "Big Brother," which earned a 2.2/6.
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Things settled down at 10 p.m., with shows getting more normal two- plus ratings, led by the ABC special "Primetime," which took in a 2.4/7. Encore performances of two crime shows, NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" and CBS' "Without a Trace," were next with a 2.0/6 and a 1.2/4, respectively.
Fox played in the background most of the night with repeats of "Kitchen Nightmares" reaching a 1.5/5 in 18-49 viewers nd "House" earning a 1.7/5.
ABC and NBC took most of the viewers this night, with ABC earning a 2.7/8 and NBC a 2.5/7. CBS, Fox and Univision were almost a rating point back, each with a 1.6/5. CW finished with a 0.4/1.