Fox takes pole position in rankings

Daytona 500 "The American Idol ShowInch NBC's "The Voice" was among the week's top rankings draws.Fox discontinued script a week ago with "The American Idol ShowInch and also the Daytona 500 to dominate the primetime rankings race. Though still a substantial demo -- "Idol's" three models rated one of the week's top four shows in grown ups 18-49 -- television's greatest hit of history decade is constantly on the sag in year-to-year evaluations, especially among grown ups under 35. Also of note a week ago, the nets began moving out their final batch of recent midseason shows, with both NBC's Thursday drama "Awake" and ABC's hourlong Sunday comedy "GCB" falling within the OK/could-have-been-worse category. CBS, meanwhile, did not have the week's top 5 programs in grown ups 18-49 but wound up with 12 from the top 25 -- a lot more than ABC (five), Fox (five) and NBC (one) combined. Overall, based on national estimations from Nielsen for that February. 20-26 frame, Fox cruised in adults18-49 having a 3.4 rating/9 share, then CBS (2.2/6), ABC and NBC (both 1.9/5), Univision (1.5/4) and top cabler The best spinner's (1./3). Internet also centered in grown ups 25-54 (4.3/10 to three.1/8 for CBS) as well as edged out CBS as a whole audiences (10.5 million to 10.two million). For Fox, "The American Idol ShowInch broadcast six hrs across three nights, including its best Thursday amounts of year (5.4/15 in 18-49, 18.45 million audiences overall) that telecast tied NBC's own singing competish, "The Voice," because the week's top attract the 18-49 demo. A unique Tuesday "Idol" (5.1/13, 16.11m) and Wednesday's regular seg (5./13, 17.23m) were not far behind. "Idol" saw its median age climb above 50 for 2 of their three shows a week ago. And Thursday's two-hour seg revealing the show's 13 runners up was off 34% in grown ups 18-49 (5.4 versus. 8.2) versus. the comparable evening last year, by a level bigger 41% in grown ups 18-34 (3.6 versus. 6.1). Fox was increased through the rain-postponed Daytona 500 Dale earnhardt jr . race Monday (4.5/13 in 18-49, 13.67m), which edged out NBC for that evening. Although not employed by the internet, a minimum of in the first week, was limited-run Saturday series "Q'Viva: The Selected" (.8/2, 2.20m), a Jennifer Lopez-fronted look for Latin American music talent. Elsewhere, CBS wrapped the Feb sweep that ended Wednesday having a surprise second-place finish in front of Fox in grown ups 18-49 (NBC easily won because of the Super Bowl). Fox has centered this month throughout the "The American Idol ShowInch era, however the Eye's consistency won out this time around. The net's Monday comedy block was hit by special competish in the Daytona 500, but "2 Broke Women" (3.8/10, 10.18m), "The Way I Met Your Mother" (3.6/10, 9.07m) and "2 . 5 Males" (3.6/9, 11.92m) all arrived within the week's top ten. Also one of the top shows was Tuesday vet "NCIS" (3.5/9, 18.20m), which tied with AMC's "Walking Dead" because the week's No. 1 drama in 18-49 whilst standing because the most-viewed scripted program overall. "The Large Bang Theory" did well in repeat Thursday (3.2/10, 11.11m), leading in to the season finale of rookie half-hour "Take advantage of" (2.6/7, 8.93m), the industry contender to come back within the fall following a fairly solid eight-week run. Also wrapping its first season, but possibly not searching as prone to return, is Friday drama "A Gifted Guy" (1.5/4, 9.70m), which finished on the strong note following "Undercover Boss" (2./7, 9.53m). At ABC, "Modern Family" might have rated fifth for that week in grown ups 18-49 (4.8/12), however it could vault to No. 1 when full-week Digital recording device playback is incorporated. The comedy, especially since it's facing "The American Idol Show,Inch has skyrocketed in Digital recording device playback, posting record-setting gains of two.7 rankings points recently. The net's Friday is constantly on the click with "Shark Tank" (1.6/5, 5.69m) and "Primetime: How Would You React?Inch (1.5/5, 5.16m), carrying out nearly along with its Tuesday, where "Last Guy Standing" (2.2/6, 7.50m) might be the night's only show still standing come next season. A few days wrapped having a modest preem for Southern-fried hourlong comedy "GCB" (2.2/6, 7.56m), although it did retain nearly 90% from it "Desperate Average women" lead-in (2.5/6, 8.21m) and virtually maintained its audience throughout. NBC did not cash going beyond "The Voice," though lead-out "Smash" stable (2.3/6, 6.64m) after which increased nicely on Monday from the current week (2.7/7, 7.76m), benefiting from repeats on ABC and CBS. Drama "Awake" bowed with decent amounts Thursday (2./5, 6.25m), growing from the soft "Up Through The Night" lead-in and beating the repeats on ABC and CBS in 18-49. "Being a parent" wrapped its season with an uptick (1.9/5, 5.16m), and Sunday's "Celebrity Apprentice" (2.3/6, 6.67m) gone to live in the 18-49 lead using its final half-hour. Contact Ron Kissell at ron.kissell@variety.com