'Lost' halts drops; 'Idol' dominates Tuesday
ABC's "Lost" halted its post-premiere slips Tuesday night, showing a slight increase for the first time this final season.
"Lost" was viewed by 9.9 million viewers and drew a 4.6 preliminary adults 18-49 rating, up a tenth from last week and, more importantly, seeming to settle. ABC's "The Forgotten" (5 million, 1.7) was likewise steady.
Fox won the night with a two-hour "American Idol" (24 million, 8.9), down slightly from last week. That put NBC into second place with its Vancouver Games coverage, drawing 20.8 million.
Fox points out that among the adult demo, "Idol" dominates even more, with the reality competition 48% higher compared to the Games. The point is somewhat moot from an NBC business perspective, however, since the Olympics are sold to advertisers based on the number of households tuning in rather than young adults. Among total viewers, NBC notes that both "Idol" and the Winter Games have identical viewership this season -- 25.2 million -- closing the gap between the primetime kings.