NBC nabbed the first interview with Nadya Suleman, the mother who recently gave birth to octuplets, and the network scored strong ratings for the special.

A 10 p.m. “Dateline NBC” averaged a 4.0 adults 18-49 rating last night, according to Nielsen overnights, winning its timeslot and lifting NBC to a tie for second on the evening.

“Dateline” was up 8 percent from last week, when “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” averaged a 3.7 rating in the timeslot, and it matched the highest-rated show for any network in the 10 p.m. slot since ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” finale in November.

Suleman spoke with “Today’s” Ann Curry, and parts of the interview also aired on the morning show. She discussed her reasoning for adding more kids to her brood of six and how she plans to support her 14 total kids.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Twenty-eight percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.
 
Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 6.7 average overnight rating and a 17 share. CBS and NBC tied for second at 3.8/10, with ABC and Univision tied for fifth at 1.7/4 and CW sixth at 0.9/2.
 
At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 9.0 for “American Idol,” followed by CBS with a 3.7 for “NCIS.” NBC was third with a 2.9 for the first half of “The Biggest Loser,” Univision fourth with a 1.6 for “Cuidado con el Angel,” ABC fifth with a 1.5 for an hour of “Charlie Brown” Valentine’s specials and CW sixth with a 1.2 for “90210.”
 
NBC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.5 for more “Loser,” while Fox fell to second with a 4.3 for “Fringe.” CBS was third with a 4.2 for “The Mentalist,” Univision fourth with a 2.1 for “Fuego en la Sangre,” ABC fifth with a 2.0 for “Scrubs” and CW sixth with a 0.7 for “Privileged.”
 
At 10 p.m. NBC led again with a 4.0 for “Dateline,” with CBS second with a 3.5 for “Without a Trace.” ABC was third with a 1.6 for “True Beauty” and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Aqui y Ahora.”
 
Among households, CBS led the night with a 10.9 average overnight rating and a 17 share. Fox was second at 10.0/15, NBC third at 6.4/10, ABC fourth at 2.7/4, Univision fifth at 2.2/3 and CW sixth at 1.4/2.