‘Idol’ wins St. Patrick’s Day reality brawl

A three-way reality brawl on St. Patrick’s Day knocked down “American Idol,” “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Biggest Loser” as the trio of popular reality shows went face-to-face in the 9 p.m. hour.

Fox’s two-hour “Idol” (21.5 million viewers, 8.0 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and 22 share) came out on top Tuesday night, though it was down 12% from last week’s one-hour edition and marked its worst Tuesday performance since the show’s debut season. A two-hour “Loser” (8.8 million, 3.2/9) was second in the heavily contested hour, slipping 16%. And 9 p.m.’s “Dancing With the Stars” (12.4 million, 2.7/7) came in third.

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Despite a record-setting start this season, the first “Dancing” results show of the spring was off a steep 31% from when it faced a similar lineup last year and hit a series low for a regularly scheduled episode. The airing dropped 49% from Monday’s performance show, a much larger-than-usual fall.

“Reality cannibalism” is how one network insider described the match-up.

“Just found out how much reality is too much,” emailed another.

Also fighting in the hour was the return of CBS’ “The Mentalist” (15.4 million, 3.2/8), which hit a season low — along with the rest of CBS’ dramas.

The green-beer crowd can be blamed for part of the erosion, since last night’s quasi-holiday’s viewing levels were down 3.7% from last Tuesday among the adult demo (the third-least-watched Tuesday of the season, in fact).

Fox won the night, followed by NBC with “Loser” and hour-topping “Law & Order: SVU” (10.6 million, 3.4/10). CBS was third in the demo with “NCIS” (15.5 million, 3.1/9), followed by “Mentalist” and “Without a Trace” (12 million, 2.5/7). ABC was fourth, with “Dancing” sandwiched by a recap show (8.1 million, 1.7/5) and “Primetime” (7.8 million, 2.3/7). On the CW, “Reaper” (1.9 million, 0.8/2) was flat.