No Ratings Blackout for "Idol"

The not quite great Chicago blackout may have zapped belter Jennifer Hudson, but it sure didn't cut off American Idol.

Fox's pop-star contest reigned as TV's most watched show for the TV week ended Sunday. Per Nielsen Media Research, last Tuesday's Barry Manilow sing-off was experienced by 23.4 million.

That number could have been higher had a storm-related power outage in Chicago not left a reported 15,000 local households in the dark.

The blackout was one of the theories floated to explain Wednesday's Idol results episode, seen by 21.2 million (third place), in which non-tone-deaf competitors Hudson, Fantasia Barrino and LaToya London were revealed to be the week's bottom three vote getters. By show's end, it was cruise-ship crooner Hudson who was dumped overboard.

Now down to six finalists, Idol resumes its quest Tuesday night for the genre that will finally convince 13-year-old girls to stop voting for John Stevens. Up next: The big-band sounds of Gloria Estefan.

Elsewhere:

Some 22.6 million sentimental fools caught the first of the final three Friends episodes on NBC--good for second place.
About half as many sentimental types (10.8 million) caught the first of the final three Frasiers, also on NBC--not bad for 26th place.
Approximately nobody watched the could-be series finales of NBC sitcoms Whoopi (80th place, 5.3 million) and Happy Family (87th place, 4.9 million).
Returned to Thursday for old-time's sake, NBC's Scrubs returned to the top 20 (16th place, 13.6 million). Airing in its regular Tuesday home, the comedy fell out of the top 50 (54th place, 8 million).
Reupped Fox drama 24 (28th place, 10.5 million) made its network look wise, as did the likewise renewed O.C. (31st place, 10.1 million).
Bachelor Jesse Palmer treated his prospective brides to a romantic day of house-building as 11.9 million (20th place) wondered if they'd tuned into Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (29th place, 10.4 million) by mistake.
Foodie Rocco DiSpirito failed to cook, as only 6.5 million tuned in for the second-season premiere of NBC's The Restaurant (66th place).
A prime-time version of venerable CBS game show The Price Is Right (61st place) helped 7.5 million keep their minds active prior to lights out.

CBS, led by a CSI repeat (fourth place, 21.1 million), was the week's most-watched network, averaging 11.7 million viewers. NBC trailed, barely, with 11 million. The Peacock was the week's top network among 18-to-49-year-olds.

Fox ran second in the key demo and third in viewers (8.8 million). ABC ran fourth in both categories, averaging 7.1 million viewers.

The WB, boosted by the likes of the just renewed One Tree Hill (91st place, 4.4 million), bested UPN, 3.4 million to 2.8 million viewers.

Here's a rundown of the 10 most watched shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 23.4 million viewers
2. Friends (8 p.m., Thursday), NBC, 22.6 million
3. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 21.2 million
4. CSI, CBS, 21.1 million
5. CSI: Miami, CBS, 21 million
6. Survivor: All-Stars, CBS, 20.99 million
7. Friends (8:32 p.m., Thursday), NBC, 20.3 million
8. ER, NBC, 19.8 million
9. Law & Order, NBC, 17.2 million
10. Will & Grace, NBC, 16.4 million