'Human Target' drops in new time period

UPDATED: Fox's latest drama series "Human Target" took a hit in the ratings Wednesday night in its new time period. Lacking an "American Idol" lead-in this week, the show fell 23% to place third in the 8 p.m. hour.

"Target" (7.8 million, 2.4 adults 18-49 rating) led into a special "Road to Hollywood" edition of "American Idol" (21 million, 7.8), a combination of new material from previously visited cities and recapping highlights, which fell in the ratings compared to last week's audition episode.

Fox won the night overall, with CBS in second place. CBS' telecast of the special "Super Bowl's Best Commercials 2010" (11 million, 2.9) surprised at 8 p.m., winning the hour.

"The fact that ‘Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials’ dominated the night just goes to show that the power of Super Bowl ads can successfully extend into primetime," said exec producer Bob Horowitz in a statement. "It also suggests that we might be looking at record-breaking numbers for the big game on Sunday."

CBS followed up with "Criminal Minds" (14.8 million, 3.8) and "CSI: NY" (14.2 million, 3.4), the latter winning 10 p.m.

ABC aired originals of "The Middle" (7.3 million, 2.7), "Modern Family" (9.2 million, 3.9) and "Cougar Town" (6.3 million, 2.9). "Ugly Betty" (4 million, 1.4) aired at 10 p.m.

NBC had an extremely low average for a major broadcast network in-season on a weeknight -- a 1.2 -- airing "Mercy" (6.2 million, 1.6), a crime drama repeat and the Wednesday finale of "The Jay Leno Show" (4.2 million, 1.2). The CW aired repeats.