'Idol' rises, tops Vancouver Games

In their fourth night of head-to-head competition, Fox's "American Idol" beat NBC's Olympic Games coverage and rose considerably from last week.

The two-hour "Idol" (22.8 million viewers, 8.6 preliminary adults 18-49) featuring the Top 12 men competing was up 23% in viewers and the adult demo versus last Wednesday's one-hour performance. (Last Wednesday, you'll recall, was the evening that Team USA had a gold medal streak and bested "Idol"). 

Though "Idol" has topped the Olympics three out of four telecasts, the considerable increase in primetime event competition has impacted the show's performance versus last year, with "Idol" tracking 5% lower than 2009. 

Vancouver Games drew 19.8 million viewers, up 24% from 2006.