Overnights
'Moment of Truth' beats out 'Survivor'
By Toni Fitzgerald
Mar 20, 2008 - 11:54:58 AM

Last week Fox’s lie detector reality series “The Moment of Truth” proved it could hold up without an “American Idol” lead-in. Last night it proved it could withstand tough competition in the 8 p.m. timeslot.

Facing CBS’s relocated “Survivor,” booted out of its usual Thursday timeslot by tonight’s NCAA basketball, “Truth” maintained all of last week’s rating, averaging a 4.1 in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights.

“Truth” bested “Survivor’s” season-low 3.6 by 14 percent, although it trailed in total viewers, 10.7 million to the veteran CBS show’s 11.3 million.

The results probably say as much about “Truth” as they do about “Survivor.” The latter’s ratings have been falling for years, but it still usually wins its timeslot in 18-49s. It slipped 12 percent from last year’s 4.1 average.

But “Truth” again showed that it can pull solid ratings without “Idol” ahead of it. Last week was its first time airing at 8 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.

Fox led the night among viewers 18-49 with a 6.8 average overnight rating and an 18 share. CBS was second at 2.6/7, ABC third at 2.1/6, NBC fourth at 2.0/5, Univision fifth at 1.8/5 and CW sixth at 1.3/4.
 
At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 4.1 for “Truth,” followed by CBS with a 3.6 for “Survivor.” Univision was third with a 2.3 for “Al Diablo con los Guapos,” ABC fourth with a 2.1 for “Wife Swap,” CW fifth with a 1.8 for “America’s Next Top Model,” though it took second among the network’s target adults 18-34, and NBC sixth with a 1.4 for a repeat of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”
 
Fox led again at 9 p.m. with a 9.6 for “Idol,” while ABC moved to second with a 2.6 for “Supernanny.” CBS was third with a 2.4 for “Big Brother,” NBC and Univision tied for fourth at 1.7, NBC for another “L&O: CI” repeat and Univision for “Pasion,” and CW sixth with a 0.8 for a repeat of “The Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.”
 
At 10 p.m. NBC took the lead with a 3.0 for “Law & Order,” with CBS second with a 1.8 for a repeat of “CSI: NY.” ABC was third with a 1.6 for “Men in Trees” and Univision fourth with a 1.2 for “Don Francisco Presenta.”
 
Fox also finished first for the night among households with an 11.0 average overnight rating and a 17 share, with NBC second at 5.2/8, CBS third at 5.1/8, ABC fourth at 4.1/7, Univision fifth at 2.0/3 and CW sixth at 1.9/3.