This Thursday, as Fox's coverage of the BCS Championship game 'tween the Gators and Sooners dominated the night with nearly 27 million total viewers....
8 pm/ET
Ugly Betty placed third (behind a CSI: NY repeat) with an audience of 7.5 million, down 900K from its last fresh outing. Both NBC's Earl (5.5 mil, down 17 percent) and Kath & Kim (4.15 mil, down 22 percent) suffered serious blows.
9 pm
Grey's claimed the No. 2 spot with 13.7 million viewers, down 10 percent from its last new episode. Leading out of an Office repeat with what I posit was its best episode of the season, 30 Rock (5.24 mil) plunged 30 percent.
10 pm
Private Practice benefitted from its new après-Grey's time slot, surging 36 percent (from its last Wednesday outing) to 9.03 million viewers. Trailing an Eleventh Hour repeat, ER scored 7.32 mil, down, 18 percent.
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30 Rock
9:31 pm/ET NBC
Hello, nurse. Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek (for 2002's Frida) begins a guest-star arc tonight as Jack's newest romantic conquest — his oppressive mother's nurse, Elisa.
Read on for previews of Ugly Betty, the 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards, Private Practice and the BCS Championship game.
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Monday's Bowl Championship Series title game — a comfortable 38-24 win for LSU over Ohio State — drew 23.1 million viewers for Fox. Though it was a steep drop from last year's 28.8 million (also on Fox, featuring Ohio State falling at the hands of another SEC school, Florida), it was still the night's most-watched program.The 2006 Rose Bowl remains the most-watched BCS game, with 35.6 million viewers tuning in to ABC to watch Texas shock USC.
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A few ratings highlights from Monday night:• Fox's coverage of the BCS showdown between OSU and LSU averaged 21.58 million total viewers, more than double the closest contender. Its draw in key demos was also off the charts.• ABC's Dance War averaged about 11 mil over its two-hour premiere, besting NBC's American Gladiators (10.9 mil, down nine percent from its premiere) in the 8 o'clock hour.• At 10, Medium (9.57 mil, up 140 thou from its previous season premiere) topped a CSI: Miami repeat to claim second place. With five mil, October Road was down 680K from its last fresh episode.Also, Friday's season-ending episode of Zoey 101 was pregnant with 7.3 million viewers — more than double the Nickelodeon hit's average draw, says the New York Post. The final season of the Jamie Lynn Spears starrer unspools in February.
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It was a season where the rankings were shaken up more than a snow globe on Christmas Eve and no team could hang on to the No. 2 spot (seven losses, six to unranked teams). The topsy-turvy campaign comes to an end Monday as LSU (11-2), the first team with two losses to play in the title game, takes on top-ranked Ohio State (11-1) in the BCS Championship Game (Jan. 7, 8:15 pm/ET, Fox) in New Orleans. “It’s actually been an unbelievable year,” says Fox analyst Charles Davis, who’ll be joined in the booth by Thom Brennaman. “This all started with Boise State knocking off Oklahoma last Jan. 1" in the '07 Fiesta Bowl.At the end of the regular season, there were a number of teams that thought they deserved a berth in this game over Louisiana State. One of them, Oklahoma, went down — hard — to West Vir
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