Thursday 01/19/12 - American Idol Helps FOX Edge CBS

Opening with its Thursday debut of American Idol (4.45 A18-49 Live Rating) at 8pm, the one-hour airing pushed FOX to first place with A18-49 viewers last night. Despite declining 30% from a year ago, the program was still the highest rated of the evening, helping the network's 9pm airing of The Finder (1.92) improve 34% from its series premiere last week.

Trailing FOX by 10% for the night among A18-49, CBS' 8pm hour was affected by Idol's debut, as The Big Bang Theory (3.69) and Rob (3.00) declined by 7% and 17%, respectively, from a week ago. With the network's 9pm airing of Person of Interest (2.67) holding steady, the subsequent episode of The Mentalist (2.60) jumped 10% from last week, remaining the highest rated program in the 10pm hour.

Falling to third place with A18-49 viewers for the evening, each program in ABC's Thursday night lineup took a hit from last week's viewership levels. While the network's 8pm telecast of Wipeout (1.63) saw the largest drop (-21%), the latest airings of Grey's Anatomy (2.57) and Private Practice (1.66) experienced more moderate declines.

Featuring a highly anticipated matchup between Lebron James and the Miami Heat against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, TNT easily drew the largest A18-49 cable audience with its NBA double-header last night. Combining its first telecast with a matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz, the cable network edged Univision's lineup of Una Familia Con Suerte (1.68), La Que No Podia Amar (1.89) and Rosa De Guadalupe (1.07).

Landing sixth overall for the second consecutive week, NBC bookened weekly viewing losses among A18-49 by 30 Rock (1.08) at 8pm and The Firm (0.76) at 10pm with slight gains from Parks & Recreation (1.43), The Office (2.11) and Up All Night (1.55). Lagging behind NBC, The CW's lineup of Vampire Diaries (0.70) and The Secret Circle (0.50) also trailed five other cable networks, as the network's programs declined 18% and 21%, respectively, from a week ago with A18-49 viewers.

Source: Nielsen, based on Live data