NBC could savor its final round of Olympics-fed ratings dominance, including the week's most-watched program: Friday's coverage of the Vancouver Games, seen by 24.5 million viewers.
But Fox's "American Idol" continued to display amazing competitive spirit. Its Tuesday and Wednesday performance shows ranked second and third, respectively, while its Thursday results show claimed 10th place.
The week's much-hyped newcomer, "Marriage Ref," scored nicely for NBC. More than 14 million viewers sampled a half-hour preview of the Jerry Seinfeld-inspired comedy-reality show, with the Olympics closing ceremony as its lead-in. How a full-hour version of the critically lambasted show holds up in its regular time slot -- Thursday at 9 p.m. -- against tough competition like "The Mentalist" and "Private Practice" will be interesting to watch.
Overall in prime time last week, NBC unsurprisingly slammed its rival networks with an average of 21.3 million viewers (12.4 rating, 20 share). Second-place Fox averaged 11.0 million viewers (6.3 rating, 10 share), while CBS averaged 7.8 million (4.9 rating, 8 share). ABC had 5.7 million (3.6 rating, 6 share) and the CW had 1.4 million (0.9 rating, 1 share).
1 Winter Olympics, Fri. (NBC)
2 American Idol, Tue. (Fox)
3 American Idol, Wed. (Fox)
4 Winter Olympics, Thu. (NBC)
