With “American Idol” moving into the final rounds and the other networks still showing mostly strike-induced leftovers, Fox stomped to an easy victory last night.

The expanded two-hour edition of “Idol” averaged a 10.8 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, in the 8 to 10 p.m. slot. That was 42 percent ahead of the combined 7.6 average for the other Big Five broadcast networks.

NBC’s solid “The Biggest Loser” was the only program to top a 2.2 rating against “Idol” over its two hours. “Loser” averaged a 2.9.

The strong competition took a big bite out of the CW’s fifth-season premiere of “Beauty and the Geek,” which averaged a 1.1 in the network’s target 18-34s, off 45 percent from last fall’s 2.0 debut.

“Idol” dominated despite the fact that it was down 8 percent compared with the equivalent night last year, when it averaged an 11.7 in 18-49s. Among total viewers it was just about flat with 29.3 million to last year’s 29.8 million, though it did see gains across virtually all demos versus the previous week with the top 12 performing.

As mentioned, Fox led the night easily among viewers 18-49 with a 10.8 average overnight rating and a 28 share. NBC was second at 3.0/8, ABC and CBS tied for third at 1.8/5, Univision fifth at 1.6/4 and CW sixth at 1.0/2.
 
At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 9.9 rating for its first hour of “Idol,” with NBC second with a 2.7 for its first half of “Loser.” Univision was third with a 2.0 for “Al Diablo con los Guapos,” CBS fourth with a 1.5 for a repeat of “NCIS,” ABC fifth with a 1.2 for “Just for Laughs” and CW sixth with a 0.9 for “Geek.”
 
Fox was first again at 9 p.m. with an 11.6 for the second half of “Idol,” followed by NBC with a 3.2 for the last half of “Loser.” CBS was third with a 2.1 for “Big Brother,” Univision fourth with a 1.7 for “Pasion,” ABC fifth with a 1.5 for an hour of “According to Jim” and CW sixth with a 1.1 for “One Tree Hill.”
 
At 10 p.m. NBC took the lead with a 3.0 for a repeat of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” while ABC moved to second with a 2.8 for “Primetime.” CBS was third with a 1.9 for “Jericho” and Univision fourth with a 1.3 for “Aqui y Ahora.”
 
Fox also finished first for the night among households with a 16.7 average overnight rating and a 26 share. NBC was second at 5.4/9, CBS third at 4.5/7, ABC fourth at 3.8/6, Univision fifth at 1.8/3 and CW sixth at 1.6/2.