Overnights
'Amsterdam' slips on its second airing
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 7, 2008 - 11:53:25 AM

The prospects for Fox’s new drama “New Amsterdam” are looking a bit dimmer. Facing much tougher competition for last night’s second episode, its rating slipped from its Tuesday premiere.

“Amsterdam” averaged a 3.6 adults 18-49 rating among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights, off 22 percent from Tuesday’s 4.6 premiere. While a 3.6 is still a decent number, “Amsterdam” held a smaller percentage of its “American Idol” lead-in last night than it did on Tuesday, with 39 percent sticking around compared to 44 percent Tuesday. (By comparison, "Idol" was down 11 percent from Tuesday's rating last night, from a 10.5 to a 9.3.)

“Amsterdam” placed second in its timeslot, behind ABC’s “Lost,” and it was 1.6 behind the rating pulled by last week’s 9 p.m. Fox timeslot occupant, the rising “Don’t Forget the Lyrics.”

Now “Amsterdam,” about a nearly 400-year-old cop in New York City, faces a tougher task as it moves into its regular timeslot Monday at 9 p.m. Fox had some success with “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” in that slot after also premiering it behind a highly rated program, in that case an NFL playoff game.

Still, Fox very easily led the night among viewers 18-49 with a 6.5 average overnight rating and a 16 share. ABC was second at 3.3/8, CBS third at 3.0/8, NBC fourth at 2.6/7, Univision fifth at 1.7/4 and CW sixth at 0.8/2.
 
At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 9.3 for “American Idol,” followed by CBS with a 4.0 for “Survivor.” Univision was third with a 2.0 for its first of two hours of “Al Diablo con los Guapos,” ABC and NBC tied for fourth at 1.9, ABC for a repeat of “Lost” and NBC for an hour of “The Office” repeats, and CW was sixth with a 0.9 for a “Smallville” rerun.
 
ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 5.4 for a new “Lost,” while Fox fell to second with a 3.6 for “Amsterdam.” NBC was third with a 3.5 for “Celebrity Apprentice,” CBS fourth with a 2.7 for a repeat of “CSI,” Univision fifth with a 2.0 for its second hour of “Guapos” and CW sixth with a 0.6 for a repeat of “Reaper.”
 
At 10 p.m. ABC led again with a 2.6 for “Eli Stone,” while NBC and CBS tied for second at 2.4, NBC for “Lipstick Jungle” and CBS for a repeat of “Without a Trace.” Univision was fourth that hour with a 1.2 for “Amas de Casa Desperadas.”
 
Among households, Fox was first for the night with a 10.7 average overnight rating and a 16 share. CBS was second at 6.7/11, ABC third at 5.4/9, NBC fourth at 4.3/7, Univision fifth at 2.0/3 and CW sixth at 1.3/2.