1. "American Idol" (FOX) - 16.5/25
2. "Lost" (ABC) - 9.9/15
3. "CSI: NY" (CBS) - 9.1/15
4. "Free Ride" (FOX) - 8.6/13
5. "Law & Order" (NBC) - 8.2/14
6. "Criminal Minds" (CBS) - 8.0/12
7. "Barbara Walters Special" (ABC) - 7.1/12
8. "Deal or No Deal" (NBC) - 6.6/11
9. "Still Standing" (CBS) - 4.7/7
10. "George Lopez" (ABC) - 3.8/6
11. "Freddie" (ABC) - 3.7/6
12. "One Tree Hill" (WB) - 2.5/4
13. "Beauty and the Geek" (R, UPN) - 1.7/3
14. "America's Next Top Model" (R, UPN) - 1.4/2
15. "Veronica Mars" (R, UPN) - 1.1/2

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/ratin ... =wednesday

This sucks that Lost is getting hit hard the most. Nice numbers for Free Ride though

Actually, not so great for Free Ride. It held less than half of AI's numbers.

Yeah, Lost is getting hit fairly hard, but you have to remember these are fast nationals and look much lower than overnights (the overnight would probably be more in the 11.0/17 range or something).

Lost can breathe a sigh of relief now, since this should be the last time Idol runs over an hour on Wednesday for quite awhile. Same for Survivor after tomorrow, as that'll most likely be the last time Idol will be on Thursday this season.

And I don't know if it's been mentioned but for some inexplicable reason NBC is moving Law & Order to 9 pm in a few weeks. I can't even remember the last time the show wasn't airing new episodes at 10 pm on Wednes.

Yeah Free Ride numbers are so so. But better than Bones or Simple Life 3, lol.

Those number are actually way down from earlier episodes. The last episode I believe got a 11.0 or so in the Fast Nationals and 18M viewers. If that mean anything, viewership dropped below 17M viewers, something I don't think has happened since way early in season 1.

Once again, prelim numbers from Variety (not in order):

American Idol - 29.4 million
Free Ride - 13.5 million
Lost - 16.5 (lowest of the season so far)
Criminal Minds - 12.4
CSI: NY - 13.7
law & Order - 12.4
Barbara Walters Oscar Special - 9.8
Deal or No Deal - 10.6 (NBC's strongest showing against Idol since May 2004, yikes).

Yeah, thats really close to a series low. I think the only other episodes lower then that were the ones that aired up against the Playoffs between the Red Sox and Yankees.

I don't think the erratic airing schedule has helped it much.

That's pretty good considering the show averaged just under 16 million last season.

FOX has got to stop throwing ANYTHING at the wall after Idol. Nothing has stuck, except "House". Sure, they got one massive hit, but they also got a good dozen misses. And "House" was a fluke, mainly because the show is great. It's not like that was any more of a logical move to air it after Idol.

Why do you think I'm still pissed at them for axing Arested Development

House has been the only show to really capatalize on the post-Idol slot. Especially since it was on the verge of cancellation beforehand.

You guys are forgetting another post-Idol success: 24.

But then again, it didn't really happen until it started airing on Mondays in midseason.

Seems like Lost has lost the extra burst of Season 2 viewers. It's just become too complicated for the Average Joe, but it's still got its fanbase, which more than enough to keep it on the network for a very long time.

That's fantastic for One Tree Hill. Season high by a mile, and I believe it's highest for a long long time, since early Season 2. Obviously the marketing campaign made a big difference. Why can't they advertise like that every week?

Anyways, it's getting very close to The OC. If it survives to Season 4, I believe Tree Hill will come out of that season over it.

And the internet buzz charts are going mad over last night's episode. On Yahoo's the show itself is biggest mover and now in the top 10, and Sophia Bush gained 2000%, which would be first if it wasn't for some one day wonder movie or something.