'Dancing' is inching up on 'American Idol'

NEW YORK — "American Idol" may have some competition on its hands.

ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" finished closer to "Idol" than it ever has in a week where both shows were on the air, according to Nielsen Media Research.

"Dancing" reached 21.2 million viewers last Monday, while "Idol" had 21.9 million on Tuesday. "Idol" fared much better when the games' results shows aired.

"American Idol" is in the midst of its semifinal rounds, where interest has traditionally waned compared to the auditions and final few episodes. Fox is also comforted by knowing "Idol" has a much younger audience than "Dancing," considered more valuable to advertisers.

The news was less encouraging for ABC's new comedy "Better Off Ted," which features Portia de Rossi. It reached only 5.5 million people for its debut last week.

CBS' "60 Minutes," which drew 17 million viewers to watch an interview with President Barack Obama on Sunday, was the most-watched prime-time show last week that did not involve singing and dancing.

CBS won the week, averaging 11.5 million viewers (7.1 rating, 12 share). Fox averaged 10.3 million viewers (6.0, 10), ABC had 9.2 million and struggling NBC had 5.7 million (3.7, 6). The CW (1.3, 2) and My Network TV (1.1, 2) both averaged 1.9 million viewers in prime-time. ION Television had 630,000 viewers (0.2, 1)

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with 4 million viewers (2.0 rating, 3 share), Telemundo had 1 million (0.5, 1), TeleFutura 690,000 (0.4, 1) and Azteca 180,000 (0.1, 0).

NBC's "Nightly News" topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.6 million viewers (5.7, 12). ABC's "World News" was second with 7.9 million (5.3, 11) and the "CBS Evening News" had 6.1 million viewers (4.1, 9).

A ratings point represents 1,145,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.5 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of March 16-22, the top 20 shows, their networks and viewerships:

1. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 23.71 million viewers;

2. "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 21.89 million viewers;

3. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 21.22 million viewers;

4. "60 Minutes," CBS, 17.04 million viewers;

5. "NCIS," CBS, 15.84 million viewers;

6. "The Mentalist," CBS, 15.49 million viewers;

7. "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 14.75 million viewers;

8. "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 14.61 million viewers;

9. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 19. 4.12 million viewers;

10. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 13.74 million viewers.

11. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 13.61 million viewers;

12. "House," Fox, 13.13 million viewers;

13. "CSI: NY," CBS, 12.79 million viewers;

14. "Dancing With The Stars" (Tuesday), ABC, 12.74 million viewers;

15. "Amazing Race 14," CBS, 12.42 million viewers;

16. "Without a Trace," CBS, 11.87 million viewers;

17. "Rules Of Engagement," CBS, 11.42 million viewers;

18. "Cold Case," CBS, 11.41 million viewers;

19. "24," Fox, 11.36 million viewers;

20. "Castle," ABC, 10.96 million viewers.