"American Idol" gave Fox a handy win on a Wednesday night when CBS and ABC aired mostly repeats, while NBC's new comedy "Bent" slid from last week's disappointing premiere, according to preliminary numbers.
Fox, which ran "Idol" throughout the night, took first place in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic and total viewers with an average 5.0 rating/14 share in the demo and 17.2 million total viewers.
Coming in second in ratings and total viewers with an average 2.1/6 in the demo and 8.3 million, CBS mostly ran repeats. The exception was "Survivor" at 8, which was flat in the demo compared to last week with a 2.8/9. It had 9.6 million total viewers.
ABC took third place in ratings and total viewers with an average 1.3/4 and 4.3 million. It aired mostly reruns except for "Happy Endings" at 9:30, which ticked up 6 percent in the demo from last week's season low with a 1.9/5, and 4.2 million total viewers.
NBC ran fourth, with an average 1.0/3 in the demo and 3.1 million total viewers. Facing competition from "Idol" and "Survivor," the "Whitney" finale at 8 and "Are You There," Chelsea" finale at 8:30 suffered slight declines. "Whitney" posted a 1.5/5 in the demo, down 6 percent from last week, with 4.2 million total viewers. "Chelsea" was down 14 percent in the demo with a 1.2/4, and 4.2 million total viewers. Back-to-back episodes of "Bent" followed, with the 9 p.m. airing dipping 10 percent from last week's premiere with a 0.9/3 in the demo and 2.6 million total viewers. The follow-up episode posted a 0.8/2 in the demo and 2.4 million total viewers. "Rock Center With Brian Williams" at 10, meanwhile, climbed 14 percent climb in the demo to a still-paltry 0.8/2 and 3.3 million total viewers.
