Fox scored a decisive win Wednesday night on the strength of "American Idol" and a preview of the new Kiefer Sutherland drama "Touch," while NBC's new comedy "Are You There Chelsea" dropped significantly to hit a ratings low, according to preliminary numbers.
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"Idol," airing at 8, was down slightly from last week but was easily the night's top-rated and most-watched show of the night, drawing a 6.4 rating/18 share in the adults 18-49 demographic and 19.5 million total viewers. A preview of "Touch" the following hour posted a 3.9/10 in the demo -- the second-highest drama debut this season, behind ABC's "Once Upon a Time" -- and 11.8 million total viewers. ("Touch" officially premieres March 19.) Combined, "Idol" and "Touch" gave Fox an average 5.2/14 in the demo and an average 15.6 million total viewers.
On NBC, "Whitney" at 8 dipped to 1.4/4 in the demo and 4.4 million total viewers, while "Are You There Chelsea," which premiered to so-so numbers earlier this month, had a 1.4/4 in the demo and 3.9 million total viewers. It was down 18 percent in the ratings from last week. "Law & Order: SVU" repeats filled out the evening.
Following a "Criminal Minds" repeat at 8, CBS ran a new "Criminal Minds" at 9, which was up 13 percent versus last week for a 3.6/9 in the demo and 13.6 million total viewers. "CSI" the following hour jumped 18 percent over last week, taking a 3.3/9 in the demo and 14 million total viewers.
ABC ran only repeats.
