The Programming Insider -- Thursday 2/6/03

Primetime Metered Market Ratings

Wednesday 2/5/03

Household Rating/Share
NBC (11.3/16), Fox (9.3/13), ABC (9.2/13), CBS (8.0/12), WB (3.4/5), UPN (3.4/5), Pax (1.0/1)

-Yesterday's Winners:
That'70s Show (Fox), American Idol (Fox), The Bachelorette (ABC), Law & Order (NBC)

-Honorable Mention:
My Wife and Kids (ABC), The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular (CBS), The West Wing (NBC), Bernie Mac (Fox)

-Yesterday's Losers:
The Twilight Zone (UPN), Cedric the Entertainer Presents (Fox)

-Who's In On American Idol:
America voted -- eight million people according to Fox -- and America's Young Sweetheart, Kimberly Caldwell, is out and the Connecticut girl with the New York attitude, Julia DeMato, is in. Julia joins crooner Charles Grisby as the two finalists picked last night. Fans of Kimberly (and Bettis, J.D., Meosha, Patrick and Trenyce), don't fret -- there's always the wild card.

-And Then There Were Two on The Bachelorette:
As expected, Russ is gone and Charlie and Ryan are still around looking for love, a rose and their 15 minutes of fame on The Bachelorette. Following last night's overly mawkish hour (is Trista really worth it?), personally it makes me long for the return of CBS's The Amazing Race.

-Countdown to Survivor: Amazon:
Seven days!

-Ratings Breakdown:
Although Fox's American Idol (13.5/19 at 8:30 p.m.) remains a standout, old NBC faithful Law & Order was the top-rated show of the night with a 15.2/23 at 10 p.m. Law & Order beat ABC's competing Celebrity Mole: Hawaii (#2: 7.3/11) and CBS's 48 Hours Investigates (#3: 7.0/10) combined by 6 percent. Factor in Ed (#4: 7.4/10) and The West Wing (#2: 11.3/15) from 9-11 p.m. and NBC took the night with an overall 22 percent overnight advantage over second-place Fox.

In positive news for ABC, the absence of American Idol in the 9 p.m. hour put The Bachelorette (#1: 12.1/17) back on the map -- 7 percent above NBC's West Wing. Once the nationals are factored in expect a significantly wider winning margin among adults 18-49 for The Bachelorette. Earlier in the evening, the network's My Wife and Kids ranked second behind Fox's That'70s Show (#1: 8.6/13) with an 8.4/12 at 8 p.m. George Lopez followed with a fourth-place 7.0/10 at 8:30 p.m.

Over at Fox, and thanks to American Idol, Bernie Mac moved back to where he belongs, 9 p.m., with a season-high (and third-place) 8.7/12. Less successful was Cedric the Entertainer Presents, with