Fox Puts Best Feet Forward

Looks like Fox has the next dancing hit of the summer.

That network's two-hour debut of reality competition, So You Think You Can Dance? was the top rated show in the Nielsen overnight ratings Wednesday in the 18-49 demo, building dramatically from a 3.4 rating/13 share at 8-8:30 to a 5.2/15 at 9:30-10.

It was the top-rated show each half hour and led Fox to a dominant nightly win with a 4.4/14 average.

To date, the summer's top reality show has been ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

ABC took second place on the night thanks to its own new summer reality series, Brat Camp (in Dancing With the Stars old time period). The show, about a camp for troubled teens, averaged a 2.5/8 at 9 p.m.

With the exception of another "TV's outrageous moments" special on NBC, all the other shows on the night were repeats.

NBC was third on the night in the 18-49 demo with a 2.3/7; followed by CBS with a 1.9/6; and the two netlets, UPN and The WB, with a .6/2 apiece.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.