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'Idol' Helps Fox Sweep to Top Spot in February
Topic Started: Mar 2 2005, 10:56 PM (33 Views)
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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=7781622


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Despite stiff competition from the Academy Awards, the Grammys, the cadavers on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and the "Desperate Housewives" of Wisteria Lane, the wannabe pop stars of "American Idol" have propelled Fox to victory in the February sweep.

Having the Super Bowl fall in the February book certainly juiced Fox's numbers, but the network also would win the sweep in the key adults 18-49 demographic even if the Feb. 6 NFL championship game is extracted from its sweep average.

For the sweep through Monday, Fox averaged a 6.4 rating/16 share among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research. With the Super Bowl numbers extracted, Fox still was No. 1 in adults 18-49 with a 4.5/12 average through Monday, followed by ABC (4.2/11), CBS (3.9/10) and NBC (3.8/10).

With the Super Bowl included, Fox also won the book in total viewers, with an average of 15.4 million through Monday night. Without the big game factored in, CBS had a comfortable lead in total viewers (12.7 million), followed by ABC (11.3 million), Fox (10.6 million), NBC (10.5 million), the WB Network (3.6 million) and UPN (3.3 million).

The better-than-expected performance of "Idol" is the major factor in Fox's turnaround -- the network was running a distant fourth in primetime until "Idol" returned for its fourth incarnation in January -- but Fox also was buoyed by solid numbers on Mondays from drama "24" and a plucky showing in the post-"Idol" Tuesday 9 p.m. berth by fledgling drama "House."

The sweep win comes at an opportune time for Fox entertainment president Gail Berman, whose employment contract with the network is believed to expire at the end of June.

"It's fantastic that we win the sweep with or without the Super Bowl," Berman said. "We're thrilled about 'House's' performance and the ability to create new scripted assets (to capitalize on) the success of 'American Idol.' It's just what we did with 'The O.C.' last year."

"The O.C." remains a teen and young-adult magnet for Fox, but the show's overall ratings have taken a hit this season in its move out of the cushy post-"Idol" Wednesday time slot to the competitive Thursday 8 p.m. berth. But Berman said the show has done wonders for the network on a night where it has long been AWOL.

"That move has been so important to us, getting us into the game on the (advertising) opportunities that come about for shows on Thursday that we could never have taken advantage of before," Berman said.

Fox has its share of trouble spots, particularly on Friday, where the network has had no luck with original programing during the past few seasons, and on Sunday, where its comedy block has hit the Nielsen skids -- even stalwart "The Simpsons" is flagging.

Still, "Idol's" double-digit demo ratings were strong enough last week to push Fox past ABC by a hair for the win in adults 18-49 (Fox's 5.1/13 to ABC's 5.0/13) for the period ending Feb. 27. ABC won the week by a comfortable margin in total viewers (14 million) thanks to the Oscars and the heft of Wednesday hot-shot "Lost" (19.5 million, 7.5/20).

The Academy Awards telecast brought in 42.1 million viewers and a 15.1/34 in adults 18-49, but the double dose of "Idol" on Tuesday (28.3 million, 11.5/29) and Wednesday (26.7 million, 11.3/26), plus a strong showing from "House" (15.5 million, 6.4/16) and "24" (13.2 million, 5.6/12), put Fox over the top in the demo derby. CBS and NBC tied for third place for the week in adults 18-49 (3.6/9).

In viewers, Fox was No. 2 to ABC for the week with 12.1 million, followed by CBS (11.8 million), NBC (10.1 million), the WB (3.5 million) and UPN (3.3 million).

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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Lustre
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no surprise there, Idol is Fox's money maker. But FOX still has some other good shows like 24 :)
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