'Dancing' Almost Prances Past 'Idol'

Fox's "American Idol," consistently the most-watched show on any night it airs, nearly finished second Tuesday behind a dancing speedskater.

ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" results-show finale, which Tuesday crowned Olympic gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno as champion, drew just 2.2 million fewer viewers than the performance-show season finale of "American Idol," which pitted Jordin Sparks against Blake Lewis.


Champs Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough of
Champs Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough of "Dancing With the Stars" had a leg up with just 2.2 million fewer viewers than "American Idol." (By Carol Kaelson -- Abc Via Associated Press)

The "Idol" performance finale drew 25.2 million viewers, down a striking 6.6 million viewers from last season's performance finale featuring Katharine McPhee and eventual champion Taylor Hicks.

The two reality shows aired at different times Tuesday -- ABC wisely moved "Dancing" out of "Idol's" way when programming its schedule last year -- with the two-hour dance competition show airing at 9 p.m., an hour later than "Idol."

"Dancing," in fact, bested "Idol" in "total household" ratings for the first time. Because "Dancing" tends to draw older viewers, though, the households who watch the ABC show tend to have fewer people. "Dancing" averaged 23 million total viewers -- down 4.5 million from November's third-season finale.

The win by Ohno -- who was partnered with professional dancer Julianne Hough -- is the third straight victory by a male contestant, after boy-band performer Drew Lachey and former NFL star Emmitt Smith. Soap star Kelly Monaco won the dance show's first competition in 2005, but her win was overturned in a programming stunt that ultimately awarded the trophy to "Seinfeld" actor John O'Hurley.

Although "Dancing" did not upend "Idol," ABC outdrew Fox by 1.2 million viewers for the evening, becoming the first network to draw a larger audience than Fox on any Tuesday "Idol" has aired since 2002.

ABC's victory over Fox was largely due to the dismal performance of the new Fox reality show "On the Lot," which fumbled away most of its lead-in audience after "Idol."

Executive-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, "On the Lot" -- a filmmaking competition that promises the winner a contract with DreamWorks -- debuted with a mere 8.5 million viewers at 9 p.m., losing easily to "Dancing" and the latest Tom Selleck TV movie on CBS.