<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>ABC Lands One-Two Wednesday Punch</span>
Friday, January 7, 2005
ABC scored its highest Wednesday night numbers in more than two years with the first fresh installment of "Lost" since Dec. 8 and the fourth-season debut of "Alias."
The other big news of the night was a plucky performance from NBC's "Law & Order," which topped CBS' rookie "CSI: NY" in the 10 p.m. hour for the first time this season.
"Lost" opened the night for ABC with an average of 21.6 million viewers and an 8.4 rating/21 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research. The two-hour season opener of "Alias" packed a wallop from 9-11 p.m., averaging 15.8 million viewers and a 6.6/16 in the demo.
"Alias" stayed aloft in the 10 p.m. hour, while "Law & Order" (14.3 million, 4.5/11) pushed past "CSI: NY" (12.2 million, 4.2/10) for second place.
At 9 p.m., "The West Wing" did reasonably well for NBC against "Alias," averaging 11.7 million viewers and a 3.6/8 in the demo. CBS 9-10 p.m. comedies, "The King of Queens" (10.2 million, 4.0/9) and "Center of the Universe" (8.9 million, 3.5/8), were a little off their game, with "Center" proving to be a lead-in handicap for "CSI: NY."
Also of note was Fox's 9 p.m. reality entry "Nanny 911," which upticked from its recent averages to finish with 9.2 million viewers and a 3.9/9 in 18-49.
Despite its cheesecake appeal, the debut of NBC's limited-run reality series "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search" (6.8 million, 2.8/7) delivered only so-so ratings against "Lost" in the 8 p.m. hour, though it did improve the NBC's track record in the hour this season by 27%. The debut of reality show "The Road to Stardom With Missy Elliott" (2.3 million, 1.0/3 in adults 18-34) didn't set UPN on fire, but it did improve the network's track record in the time slot this season in key measures. "Missy Elliott" scored its highest marks with teens (2.4/7).
For the night, ABC stood tall over the competition with an average of 17.8 million viewers and a 7.2/18 in adults 18-49. NBC ran a distant second in adults 18-49 (3.6/9) and tied with CBS for the No. 2 spot in viewers (10.9 million).