Overnights
A building audience for Fox's 'Dance'
By Toni Fitzgerald
Aug 3, 2007 - 11:48:11 AM

With two weeks until its season finale, Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” is heating back up. The reality show, which had hit season lows in recent outings, saw its rating jump 9 percent week to week while leading Fox to a win last night.

“Dance” averaged a 3.5 in adults 18-49 compared with last week's 3.2, according to Nielsen overnights, its best number in several weeks. It dominated the 9 p.m. hour, bettering second-place CBS’s “CSI” rerun by 40 percent.

And it helped Fox to its 11th straight Thursday night victory in 18-49s, extending a record run for the network.

“Dance’s” ratings had slipped a bit over recent weeks, which isn’t unusual for reality shows that take months to crown a winner. The show airs twice a week, Wednesdays and Thursdays, which may have also added to viewer fatigue.

But with the finale now only four episodes away, viewing should pick up again.

Fox led the night among 18-49s with a 3.2 average overnight rating and a 10 share. CBS was second at 2.5/8, NBC third at 1.5/5, Univision fourth at 1.4/4, ABC fifth at 1.1/4 and CW sixth at 0.8/3.
 
At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 2.9 for “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” with CBS second with a 2.6 for “Big Brother” and NBC third with a 1.6 for repeats of “My Name is Earl” and “30 Rock.” Univision and ABC tied for fourth at 1.0, Univision for “Amar sin Limites” and ABC for a repeat of “Ugly Betty,” while CW was sixth with a 0.7 for a repeat of “Smallville.”
 
Fox led again at 9 p.m. with a 3.5 for “So You Think You Can Dance,” followed by CBS with a 2.5 for a repeat of “CSI.” NBC was third with a 1.9 for repeats of “The Office” and “Scrubs,” Univision fourth with a 1.8 for “Destilando Amor,” ABC fifth with a 1.2 for a “Grey’s Anatomy” rerun and CW sixth with a 0.8 for a repeat of “Supernatural.”
 
CBS took the lead at 10 p.m. with a 2.4 for a repeat of “Without a Trace,” while Univision moved to second with a 1.4 for “Aqui y Ahora.” NBC was third with a 1.1 for an “ER” rerun and ABC fourth with a 1.0 for a repeat of “Men in Trees.”
 
Among households, CBS led the night with a 5.6 average overnight rating and a 10 share, followed closely by Fox with a 5.5/10. ABC was third at 2.7/5, NBC fourth at 2.4/4, Univision fifth at 1.8/3 and CW sixth at 1.3/2.