'American Idol' Thursday is so far real for FOX

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With its new Thursday combo of AMERICAN IDOL and BONES, FOX dominated the competition last night and drew its highest-rated Thursday night with regular programming since 2/3/95 and its highest number of total viewers since 4/1/93.  FOX out performed the next highest-rated network of the night (CBS) by +84% among Adults 18-49 and +24% in Total Viewers.  In fact, in the 8-9pm hour, FOX out-rated the next highest-rated network (CBS) by +129% in Adults 18-49 and +92% in Total Viewers.


AMERICAN IDOL:   posted a 7.8 among Adults 18-49, down -15% from the 8-9p hour of the Wednesday premiere but up +22% from the show’s prior Thursday average last season
IDOL drew 22.9 million total viewers, down -9% from the 8-9 hour of the Wednesday premiere

IDOL out-rated Big Bang Theory by +67% in head-to-head competition
AMERICAN IDOL beat the #2 show of the night in the adults demo (The Office) by +73% and the #2 show in Total Viewers (The Mentalist) by +56%.  

With the Wednesday/Thursday premieres combined, IDOL is only down -12% from last year’s premiere week in Total Viewers – which is great for a show in its tenth season!

BONES: posted a 3.6/9 among Adults 18-49, beating its prior season average by +57% (3.6/9 vs. 2.3/7) in the demo and by +27% (10.9 vs. 8.6 Mil.) in Total Viewers.

Last night’s episode was BONES’ highest rated in one year among Adults 18-49 (since 1/28/10) and Total Viewers (since 2/4/10) and in over three years in Adults 18-34 (11/27/07).

BONES was the highest rated procedural of the night among Adults 18-49, beating CSI in head-to-head competition by +16% (3.6/9 vs. 3.1/8) and out-rating The Mentalist by +29% (3.6/9 vs. 2.8/8).

FOX’s performance last night validates the network’s strategy of shifting its AMERICAN IDOL schedule to Wed/Thurs. For the first time in the network’s history, FOX is poised to be a significant player on Thursday night.
Competition
Week three of ABC’s Winter Wipeout (2.6/7, down -28%) posted its lowest rating to date. From 9-11p, repeats of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice delivered a 1.6/4 and 1.0/3, respectively.

Following The Big Bang Theory (4.2/12, down -5%), CBS’s $#*! My Dad Says (2.7/7, down -7%) matched its series low for an original telecast. CSI (3.1/8, down -6%) and The Mentalist (2.8/8, down -10%) were on par at 9p and 10p.

The debut of NBC’s three-hour Thursday comedy block opened with Community (2.2/6, up +16%) and the premiere of Perfect Couples (2.1/6, down -19% from the 30 Rock season premiere on 9/23/10), followed by The Office (4.5/12 up +22%) and season premiere of Parks & Recreation (3.2/8, up +52% from last year’s premiere on 9/17/09). At 10pm, 30 Rock delivered a 2.7/7 (up +29% from its last telecast on 12/9/10 at 8:30pm), with Outsourced (1.8/5, down -28% from its last telecast on 12/2/10 at 9:30p) closing the night at its lowest original rating to date.

(source: FOX)