‘Idol’ retains last year’s night two rating

Part two of the season premiere of “American Idol” held its rating from last year and was down only slightly from part one on Wednesday.

It averaged a 5.6 adults 18-59 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnights, down 7 percent from a 6.0 for night one. It was the strongest night-two retention for “Idol” in four years.

The hit Fox show was even to last year in the key demo, a surprise after Wednesday’s premiere dipped 19 percent from last year.

“Idol” averaged 16.2 million total viewers, down 8 percent from last year.

“Idol” didn’t face original episodes of CBS’s lineup, which no doubt helped its strong performance. CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” still drew a 3.3 for a rerun.

The other networks saw some impact from “Idol.” ABC’s “Last Resort,” which has already been canceled, fell to a series-low 1.0 at 8 p.m., and lead-out “Grey’s Anatomy” was off 17 percent from last week, to a 2.9.

At 10 p.m. ABC’s “Scandal” won the timeslot for its fifth straight week with a 2.6.

On NBC, “Parks and Recreation” moved to its new timeslot at 8:30 p.m. and hit a season-high 1.9.

But new sitcom “1600 Penn” fell 25 percent from last week to a 1.2.

Fox was first for the night among 18-49s with a 5.6 average overnight rating and a 15 share. ABC was second at 2.2/6, CBS third at 1.9/5, Univision fourth at 1.6/4, NBC fifth at 1.5/4, CW sixth at 0.9/2 and Telemundo seventh at 0.6/2.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-six percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. Fox led with a 5.4 for “Idol,” followed by CBS with a 2.8 for repeats of “Theory” and “Two and a Half Men.” Univision and NBC tied for third at 1.6, Univision for “Por Ella Soy Eva” and NBC for “30 Rock” (1.3) and “Recreation” (1.9), with CW fifth with a 1.4 for “The Vampire Diaries,” ABC sixth with a 1.0 for “Last Resort” and Telemundo seventh with a 0.7 for “Rosa Diamante.”

Fox was first again at 9 p.m. with a 5.8 for “Idol,” while ABC jumped to second with a 2.9 for “Grey’s.” Univision was third with a 1.8 for “Amores Verdaderos,” NBC fourth with a 1.7 for “The Office” (2.1) and “Penn” (1.2), CBS fifth with a 1.6 for a repeat of “Person of Interest,” Telemundo sixth with a 0.6 for “La Patrona” and CW seventh with a 0.5 for a repeat of “The Carrie Diaries.”

ABC moved to first at 10 p.m. with a 2.6 for “Scandal,” with CBS and Univision tied for second at 1.4, CBS for an “Elementary” rerun and Univision for “Amor Bravio.” NBC was fourth with a 1.2 for “Rock Center with Brian Williams” and Telemundo fifth with a 0.6 for “Pablo Escobar: El Patron del Mal” and “El Rostro de la Venganza.”

Fox also led the night among households with a 9.2 average overnight rating and a 14 share. CBS was second at 5.7/9, ABC third at 4.8/8, NBC fourth at 2.5/4, Univision fifth at 2.1/3, CW sixth at 1.3/2 and Telemundo seventh at 0.8/1.

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