Fox slides past CBS with “Hell’s” help

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – “Hell’s Kitchen” won the
battle of the reality series and sitcoms Monday, giving Fox a
narrow win in the demo against CBS.

“Hell’s Kitchen” continued its scorching summer season,
handily defeating CBS’ sitcom repeats at 9 p.m. and the second
episode of NBC’s reality series “Treasure Hunters.”

“Hell’s Kitchen” averaged 7.7 million viewers and a 3.6
rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to
preliminary ratings estimates from Nielsen Media Research. That
was up 3 percent in total viewers and 6 percent in the demo
compared with last week.

“Treasure Hunters” (5.8 million, 2.5/7) couldn’t find the
gold in its second week, dropping 11 percent from its two-hour
premiere two Sundays ago. CBS’ sitcoms “Two and a Half Men”
(8.9 million, 2.9/8) and “The New Adventures of Old Christine”
(7.6 million, 2.3/6) did much better than ABC’s repeat
“Supernanny” (4.9 million, 2.0/5).

The 10 p.m. hour belonged to CBS, where a repeat of “CSI:
Miami” (10.6 million, 3.2/9) was the night’s top show in
viewership. It crushed ABC’s reality series “How To Get the
Guy” (3.2 million, 1.5/4), which has declined steadily from its
1.8 premiere three weeks ago. NBC’s “Medium” averaged 5.7
million viewers and a 1.8/5 in the demo.

Nightly averages: ABC (4.4 million, 1.8/5); CBS (8.5
million, 2.7/8); NBC (5.2 million, 2.0/6); Fox (6.2 million,
2.8/8); The WB (2 million, 0.7/2); and UPN (2.3 million,
0.9/3).

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter