Ol' Blue Eyes was another generation's idol, certainly bigger than Gaga in his day. But last week's "American Idol" devoted to his songs was seen by 17.5 million viewers, the least-watched regularly scheduled episode of the competition since 2003, the Nielsen Co. said.

The next night, when Lady Gaga was the featured performer, the audience increased by 2.1 million people, Nielsen said.

Generally this season, Tuesday "Idol" shows have outdrawn Wednesday ones, so it seems a clear indication that Sinatra's songs, even as arranged by Harry Connick Jr., didn't appeal to the show's younger audience. Sinatra died in 1998.

The performance episode of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" was the most popular prime-time show last week, narrowly beating the Wednesday "Idol." But the seven most-watched scripted shows were on CBS.

NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 7.4 million viewers, but its margin of victory over second place ABC's 7 million was the smallest since Diane Sawyer took over as ABC anchorwoman. The "CBS Evening News" had 5 million viewers. Despite a busy news week with the Nashville flooding, aborted Times Square bombing and Gulf of Mexico oil spill, network evening news viewership was down 1.2 million from a month ago.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

1 Dancing With the Stars (ABC)

2 American Idol, Wed. (Fox)

3 American Idol, Tue. (Fox)

4 NCIS (CBS)

5 The Mentalist (CBS)

6 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

7 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)

8 Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (CBS)

9 The Good Wife (CBS)

10 Criminal Minds (CBS)

11 Dancing With the Stars, Tue. (ABC)

12 The Big Bang Theory, 8 p.m. Mon. (CBS)

13 Glee (Fox)

14 Jesse Stone: No Remorse (CBS)

15 Desperate Housewives (ABC)

16 Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

17 60 Minutes (CBS)

18 Castle (ABC)

19 The Amazing Race (CBS)

20 The Big Bang Theory, 8:30 p.m. Mon. (CBS)