NBC’s “Age of Love,” the new reality dating show pitting twenty- and fortysomething women against each other for the affections of a thirtysomething, withered in its third outing last night, seeing a big decline from the previous week against tougher competition.

“Love” averaged a series-low 1.8 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, down 22 percent from the previous week’s 2.3 average.

It finished fourth in the 9 p.m. timeslot behind Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen,” ABC’s “Extreme Makeover” and CBS’s sitcom reruns, and it was down 28 percent from its 2.5 premiere two weeks ago.

There were likely several things contributing to “Love’s” decline, chief among them stronger competition. “Kitchen” was up slightly over last week’s 3.6 rating, and “Makeover” nearly doubled the rating for “The Ex Wives Club” in the same slot last week on ABC.

Meanwhile, “Love” got a weaker lead-in last night than last week. A repeat of last week’s “Love” averaged just a 1.3 at 8 p.m., compared with a 1.6 for a “Love” rerun in the same slot last week.

Thanks to “Kitchen,” Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 2.8 average overnight rating and a 9 share, with ABC second at 2.2/7, CBS third at 2.1/6, Univision fourth at 1.7/5, NBC fifth at 1.6/5 and CW sixth at 0.5/2.
 
ABC started the night in the lead with a 2.0 rating at 8 p.m. for a repeat of “Wife Swap.” Fox was second with a 1.8 for a repeat of “Kitchen,” CBS third with a 1.5 for an hour of “The New Adventures of Old Christine” repeats and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for the first of two hours of “Destilando Amor.” NBC was fifth with a 1.3 for a repeat of “Love” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for repeats of “Everybody Hates Chris” and “All of Us.”
 
Fox took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 3.8 for an original “Kitchen,” while ABC and CBS tied for second at 2.2, ABC for “Makeover” and CBS for repeats of “Two and a Half Men” and “How I Met Your Mother.” That left NBC fourth with a 1.8 for a new “Love,” Univision fifth with a 1.7 for its second hour of “Destilando” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for repeats of “Girlfriends” and “The Game.”
 
At 10 p.m. CBS took the lead with a 2.5 for a repeat of “CSI: Miami,” followed by ABC with a 2.3 for a repeat of “Supernanny.” Univision was third that hour with a 1.8 for “Cristina” and NBC fourth with a 1.8 for “Dateline.”
 
CBS finished first for the night among households with a 4.8 average rating and an 8 share. ABC was second at 3.8/7, Fox third at 3.7/6, NBC fourth at 3.3/6, Univision fifth at 2.0/3 and CW sixth at 1.0/2.