As expected, Fox dominated last night with the season-ending Bowl Championship Series title game between winning LSU and Ohio State. But NBC’s “American Gladiators” managed a second straight strong performance even opposite the football game.
“Gladiators” averaged a 4.8 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, down 18 percent from Sunday’s 5.9 for its premiere. Still, that came against very tough competition on Fox, which averaged a 7.3 in the 8 p.m. timeslot.
And “Gladiators” grew 23 percent from its first to its second half hour, from a 4.3 to a 5.3, in posting NBC’s best results of the season in the timeslot.
The night’s big victor, however, was Fox. Numbers for the game are approximate, as fast nationals measure timeslot data and not actual program data, and the BCS game lasted past 11 p.m.
Fox finished first in every hour despite airing yet another blowout, peaking with an 8.5 at 9 p.m. The game will likely be down from last year’s performance, which averaged 28.8 million total viewers and a 10.6 adults 18-49 rating, but it could still be one of the season’s top shows thus far.
Fox led the night from 8 to 11 p.m. among 18-49s with a 7.6 average overnight rating and an 18 share. That was off 20 percent from its primetime average for the BCS ender last year.
NBC was second at 3.9/9, CBS third at 2.7/7, ABC fourth at 2.6/6, Univision fifth at 1.5/4 and CW sixth at 0.7/2.
At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 7.3 for its first hour of BCS Championship Game coverage, followed by NBC with a 4.8 for “Gladiators.” ABC was third with a 2.8 for its first hour of the new show “Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann,” CBS fourth with a 2.1 for repeats of “How I Met Your Mother” and “Big Bang Theory,” Univision fifth with a 1.5 for “Amar sin Limites” and CW sixth with a 0.7 for repeats of “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Aliens in America.”
Fox led again at 9 p.m. with an 8.3 for football, with NBC second with a 3.6 for “Deal or No Deal.” CBS was third with a 3.4 for repeats of “Two and a Half Men” and “Rules of Engagement,” ABC fourth with a 3.1 for “Dance,” Univision fifth with a 1.6 for “Pasion” and CW sixth with a 0.7 for repeats of “Girlfriends” and “The Game.”
At 10 p.m. Fox was first again with a 7.2 for more football, while NBC held onto second with a 3.3 for the season premiere of “Medium.” CBS was third with a 2.8 for a repeat of “CSI: Miami,” ABC fourth with a 1.8 for “October Road” and Univision fifth with a 1.4 for “Cristina.”
Fox also finished first for the night among households, averaging a 13.5 overnight rating and a 20 share. NBC was second at 6.4/10, ABC third at 6.1/9, CBS fourth at 5.5/8, Univision fifth at 1.9/3 and CW sixth at 1.2/2.
