‘Idol’ worship buoys spirits at Fox

Although Fox downplayed its own expectations for “American Idol’s” fourth season, its premiere Tuesday night was the most-watched television program of the 2004-05 season.

According to Nielsen, the two-hour telecast drew an average of 33.5 million total viewers. Nearly 54 million people sampled the show for at least six minutes.

“Today is one mighty fine day at Fox,” Gail Berman, the network’s president of entertainment, said Wednesday.

“American Idol,” which aired from 8 to 10 p.m., drew more adults in the highly coveted demographic of ages 18 to 49 -- up 9% from last year’s third-season premiere. It also drew 16% more total viewers.

“Idol’s” closest competitor was CBS’ “Navy NCIS,” which scored 14.7 million viewers at 8 p.m. “The Amazing Race 6” (CBS) at 9 p.m. attracted 10.5 million viewers.

Trailing “Amazing Race” during the same 9-10 p.m. time slot was ABC’s “According to Jim” and “Rodney,” with an average of 8.3 million viewers. NBC’s “Scrubs” and “Committed” attracted only 6.1 million viewers.

“American Idol” was scheduled to air one hour at 8 p.m. Wednesday, posing strong competition for ABC’s top-10 series, “Lost.”

“I think you could expect some sort of erosion for ‘Lost,’ ” said Brad Adgate, senior vice president at Horizon Media, based in New York. “It proves there’s a real appetite for this show, despite the fact that some other reality shows have not worked this season.”

Berman calls it “the people’s show.” “It defies anything I have learned about television in my career in terms of the kind of pattern of growth a show can have.”

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Times staff writer Scott Collins contributed to this report.