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AMA finds he’s not your average Joe

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After slow but steady erosion in recent years, the American Music Awards -- with MTV’s first family serving as hosts -- took a steep dive Monday, as viewing dropped almost 20% versus last year, against competition that included Fox’s staged reality show “Joe Millionaire.”

Tune-in for ABC’s three-hour music special averaged just 12.9 million viewers, down from 16 million in 2002. By way of comparison, “Joe Millionaire” averaged 17.5 million in its hour, a modest 5% decline from the Jan. 6 premiere.

With the music awards drawing lackluster ratings and CBS’ “CSI: Miami” airing a rerun, NBC’s “Crossing Jordan” perked up with a season-high 13.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research estimates released Tuesday.

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Last week’s episode of “The Osbournes,” by the way, tallied just 3.9 million viewers on MTV, well below the program’s first-season peak.

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