The unfathomable has been ... fathomed.
Closing out its first season, "Glee" actually beat "American Idol" Tuesday night in the youthful demos that the reality-competition show has had a strangle-hold on for nearly a decade: adults 18-34 (a 5.0 rating/15 share vs. a 4.8/17) and people 12-34 (4.8/17 vs. 4.7/17).
Not that Fox -- which won the night based on virtually every important ratings benchmark based on the performance of the two shows -- cares much one way or the other.
The "American Idol" final-two performance finale Tuesday pulled in 19.6 million viewers to win the 8 p.m. hour, while ABC's "Dancing With the Stars'" final results show pulled in 17.3 million viewers to win 9 p.m.
Fox's "Glee," a Lady Gaga-focused episode, drew 11.5 million total viewers at 9 vs. "DWTS."
"Idol" posted a 6.6/19 rating among adults 18-49, while "Glee" at 9 p.m. outdrew "DWTS" in the key demographic, recording a 4.8/13 vs. 3.8/10 for the "DWTS" finale.
Combined, "Idol" and "Glee" won the 8-10 p.m. time period in all demos.
"Glee" edged out "Idol" for the night in the 18-34 demographic, posting a 5.0 to "Idol's" 4.8, but that's to be expected since "Idol" has a broader mass audience, while "Glee's" median viewer age is much lower.
CBS has a solid night with the season finale of "NCIS" drawing 15.8 million viewers and the season finale of "NCIS: Los Angeles" pulling in 13.1 million viewers. "The Good Wife" at 10 recorded 10.5 million viewers.
In the 8-10 p.m. time period, NBC's finale of "The Biggest Loser" ranked second to "Idol" among adults 18-49, recording a 3.8/11. In its second hour the show outrated "DWTS" in the 18-49 demo, 4.3 to 3.5, and overall the show averaged 9.9 million viewers for the two hours.
