Tuesday ratings: 'Dancing' grows, CBS dramas slip

ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" is gathering more viewers as it nears its finale and possibly putting pressure on CBS -- "NCIS" and "The Mentalist" enjoyed season-high ratings last week, but the shows fell back to their usual numbers Tuesday night. The CBS crime block slippage helped Fox's "Fringe" reclaim the 9 p.m. hour after last week's "Mentalist" upset.

Winning in the adult demo for the evening, Fox offered the even-keel “House,” which was seen by 13 million viewers and received a 5.5 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and ranked as the highest-rated show of the night. Despite the flat lead-in, “Fringe” (9.4 million, 4.1) was up 8% this week.

NBC placed second, with its two-hour “Biggest Loser” (7.9 million, 3.2) declining slightly, though “Law & Order: SVU” (10.2 million, 3.8) rose a couple tenths to win the 10 p.m. hour.

Third-place CBS aired “NCIS” (18 million, 3.5) and “The Mentalist” (15.8 million, 3.5), both down 13% and maintaining identical ratings for the second week in a row. At 10 p.m., “Without a Trace” (11.9 million, 2.6) stooped slightly. CBS and “NCIS” were the most-watched network and show, respectively, for the night.

Fourth-place ABC’s “Dancing” recap episode (11.8 million, 2.4) was up 15% and original results show (17.5 million, 4.0) was up 11%. But 10 p.m.’s “Eli Stone” (6.9 million, 1.8) was unchanged.

The CW’s “90210” (2.9 million, 1.5) climbed a bit in the demo, but “Privileged” (1.6 million, 0.8) slipped.

TUESDAY Nov. 18, 2008 Rate/share 8-8:30 8:30-9 9-9:30 9:30-10 10-10:30 10:30-11 2.7/7 Dancing With the Stars Performance Recap Show 11.8 mil, 2.4/6 Dancing With the Stars 17.5 mil, 4.0/10 Eli Stone 6.9 mil, 1.8/5 3.2/8 NCIS 18 mil, 3.5/9 The Mentalist 15.8 mil, 3.5/8 Without a Trace 11.9 mil, 2.6/7 3.4/9 Biggest Loser: Families 7.2 mil, 2.9/8 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 10.2 mil, 3.8/10 4.8/12 House 13.0 mil, 5.5/15 Fringe 9.4 mil, 4.1/10 No programming 1.2/3 90210 2.9 mil, 1.5/4 Privileged 1.6 mil, 0.8/2 No programming