Primetime Ratings: 'Lost' Wins Demo Against Strong Competition; 'Idol' With Ellen Gets Boost
The second episode of the final season of ABC's Lost generated strong tune-in Feb. 9, winning its 9 p.m. time slot in the 18-49 demographic against formidable competition from NBC's The Biggest Loser, CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles and the series premiere of Fox's Past Life.
At 8 p.m., American Idol easily topped the night, posting a 10.1/26 with 27.7 million total viewers for its first Hollywood Week installment, which featured the first appearance by new judge Ellen DeGeneres. But Past Life, which bowed after Idol, did not get much lift from its lead-in, averaging 9 million viewers and a 3.1/8 in the demo, for fourth at 9 p.m.
Lost won the 9 p.m. time period in the demo posting a 4.9/12, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers. NCIS: Los Angeles and The Biggest Loser each averaged 4.0/10.
NCIS: Los Angeles won the hour in total viewers averaging 17.8 million followed by Lost (11.0 million), The Biggest Loser (10.2 million) and Past Life (9.0 million).
The second episode of Lost follows last week's successful season premiere for the ABC drama, which returned up more than 10% compared to last season's premiere episode.
To read about last night's primetime ratings from TV By the Numbers, click here.
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