NBC's 'Talent' beats Tuesday competition

By Kimberly Nordyke

June 7, 2007, ET

NBC handily beat the competition Tuesday night with a special episode of "Deal or No Deal" and the two-hour second-season premiere of "America's Got Talent."

"Talent" averaged 12.9 million total viewers and a 4.3 rating/12 share in the adults 18-49 demo at 9 p.m., according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. That's up slightly from last year's premiere in total viewers (which was slightly more than 12 million) but a 7% dip in the demo.

The reality show -- from the producers and creative minds behind Fox's "American Idol," FremantleMedia North America and Syco TV, Simon Cowell's company -- easily ranked as the top series of the repeat-heavy night, followed by "Deal or No Deal" at 8 p.m. (10.1 million, 2.7/9).

Also at 8 p.m., Fox's "On the Lot" continued to struggle, with the reality show averaging 3.1 million viewers and a 1.4/4 in the demo, less than half of the audience from its premiere episode last month (7.6 million, 3.6/9).

On ABC, the telecast of the 2007 ALMA Awards from 9-11 p.m. averaged 3.5 million viewers and a 1.4/4 in the demo, down slightly from its demo performance a year ago (1.6/4).

Elsewhere, most of the broadcast networks' primetime schedule was filled with repeats.

Nightly averages: NBC (12 million, 3.8/11), CBS (7.7 million, 2.0/6), Fox (5.6 million, 2.1/6), ABC (3.7 million, 1.4/4) and CW (1.7 million, 0.6/2).

NBC's 'Talent' beats Tuesday competition

By Kimberly Nordyke

June 7, 2007, ET