Fox gains, 'Loser' climbs, 'Jim' returns

Note: photo from Jim not Biggest Loser

UPDATE: Idol rose to an 8.5 and Fringe dropped to 4.0 in the nationals.

PREVIOUS: Fox seized additional ground Tuesday night as CBS lowered its defenses by airing some repeats. American Idol and Fringe climbed, though which show gained more is unclear this morning since Idol once again ran over into the 9 p.m. hour.

Idol (23.5 million, 8.2 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) was up a tenth from last week in the early numbers and Fringe (11.5 million, 4.4) was up 10%. Idol will likely finish around 8.4 and Fringe about 4.1 in the nationals.

In second place, NBC's Biggest Loser (9.1 million, 3.7) made pretty large gains, up 16% this week, followed by a repeat. Last night was the popular makeover episode featuring Tim Gunn. For those keeping score, there's been some good news in the ratings for typically beleaguered NBC for four nights this past week, with last Thursday's new series debuts marking the start of the improved standings. 

CBS was third in the demo and second among total viewers with repeats plus Without a Trace (13.2 million, 3.0). Trace not only won 10 p.m., but up slightly this week to mark its best performance in two months -- despite not having an original lead in.

ABC was forth, welcoming back According to Jim (4.5 million, 1.2) to its schedule, airing two episodes in the 8 p.m hour. Unfortunately, viewers were less welcoming -- the telecasts underperformed their time period average by about 43% to rank as the lowest-rated shows on a major broadcast network last night.

Dancing With the Stars results show (14.8 million, 3.4) was up a tick, however, and Cupid (6.6 million, 1.8) improved 11%.

The CW aired Reaper (2 million, 0.9) and 90210 (2.1 million, 1.2), the latter posting its best numbers since early February.