The final performances of the season on "American Idol" carried FOX to a ratings win Tuesday, but ABC nearly scored an upset in total viewers thanks to the "Dancing With the Stars" finale.

FOX drew 15.55 million viewers and an 8.8 rating/14 share in households in primetime. ABC actually had better household numbers (9.7/16) and trailed FOX by only a few hundred thousand total viewers, averaging 15.2 million for the night. CBS (13.2 million, 8.3/13) was a solid third. NBC (8.6 million, 5.1/8) came in fourth with a pair of finales, while reruns on The CW (676,000, 0.5/1) were not a factor.

The race wasn't as tight among adults 18-49: FOX's 5.7 rating was far and away the night's best. NBC finished second in the demo with a 3.4, followed by ABC at 3.1 and CBS at 2.6. The CW earned a 0.3.

Tuesday's hourly numbers:

8 p.m.

FOX: "American Idol" (19.6 million viewers, 11.0/18 households)
CBS: "NCIS" season finale (15.9 million, 9.8/16)
ABC: "Dancing With the Stars" rerun (9.35 million, 6.2/10)
NBC: "The Biggest Loser" season finale (8.6 million, 5.2/8)
The CW: "Life Unexpected" rerun (807,000, 0.5/1)

18-49 leader: "American Idol" (6.6)

9 p.m.

ABC: "Dancing With the Stars" season finale (17.4 million, 11.0/17)
CBS: "NCIS: Los Angeles" season finale (13.1 million, 8.3/13)
FOX: "Glee" (11.5 million, 6.7/10)
NBC: "The Biggest Loser" season finale (11.2 million, 6.4/10)
The CW: "90210" rerun (545,000, 0.4/1)

18-49 leader: "Glee" (4.8)

10 p.m.

ABC: "Dancing With the Stars" season finale (19 million, 11.9/20)
CBS: "The Good Wife" season finale (10.6 million, 7.0/12)
NBC: "Parenthood" season finale (6 million, 3.9/6)

18-49 leader: "Dancing With the Stars" (4.2)

It still dominated Wednesday night, but the "American Idol" finale fell significantly from its ratings performance last year, which in turn was off from the 2008 finale.

"Idol" and FOX averaged 23.15 million viewers and a 13.0 rating/22 share in households, about 17 percent lower than the preliminary numbers for the 2009 finale (the numbers will probably tick up some in the time zone-adjusted ratings; Zap2it will have those numbers when they come in). CBS was the best of the rest for the night, drawing 10.3 million viewers and a 6.6/11. ABC (4.8 million, 3.1/5) came in third, followed by NBC (3.3 million, 2.2/4) and The CW (1.4 million, 0.9/2).

FOX was similarly down in the adults 18-49 demographic, although its 7.8 rating far surpassed the rest of the field. CBS finished a distant second at 2.4, and ABC was third at 1.8. Neither NBC (0.9) nor The CW (0.6) broke the 1.0 mark.

Wednesday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

FOX: "American Idol" season finale (19.7 million viewers, 11.3/20 households)
CBS: "Undercover Boss" rerun (6.1 million, 4.0/7)
ABC: Movie: "Transformers" (4.4 million, 3.0/5)
NBC: "Minute to Win It" rerun (3.3 million, 2.1/4)
The CW: "America's Next Top Model" rerun (1.4 million, 1.0/2)

18-49 leader: "American Idol" (6.5)

9 p.m.

FOX: "American Idol" season finale (26.6 million, 14.7/24)
CBS: "Criminal Minds" season finale (12.8 million, 8.1/13)
ABC: "Transformers" (4.8 million, 3.2/5)
NBC: "Minute to Win It" rerun (2.6 million, 1.8/3)
The CW: "America's Next Top Model" rerun (1.3 million, 0.9/1)

18-49 leader: "American Idol" (9.2)

10 p.m.

CBS: "CSI: NY" season finale (11.9 million, 7.5/13)
ABC: "Transformers" (5.2 million, 3.3/6)
NBC: "Law & Order: SVU" rerun (3.9 million, 2.7/5)

18-49 leader: "CSI: NY" (2.7)

There wasn't much competition for "So You Think You Can Dance's" seventh season premiere, which handily won FOX the ratings war Thursday night with okay numbers. A slew of reruns (including a strong episode of "The Mentalist") went up against the reality show, in addition to the series cliffhanger finale of ABC's "FlashForward," which pulled in lower ratings than the previous week's penultimate episode. NBC's "100 Questions" wasn't noticed by even less, sandwiched between sitcom reruns.

FOX averaged 8.2 million viewers and a 5.0 rating/9 share in households for the night. Next came CBS with 7.5 million and a 4.9/9, then ABC (3.8 million, 2.6/5), NBC (2.7 million, 1.8/3) and The CW (1.6 million, 1.0/2).

FOX also took the 18-49 demo with a 3.0 rating, far ahead of the distant second-place CBS, which had a 1.6. NBC had a 1.1, ABC a 1.0 and The CW trailed with a 0.6.

Thursday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

FOX: "So You Think You Can Dance" premiere (7.8 million viewers, 4.7/9 households)
ABC: "FlashForward" series finale (5.0 million, 3.2/6)
CBS: "How I Met Your Mother" rerun (4 million, 2.7/5), "Rules of Engagement" rerun (4.6 million, 3.1/6)
NBC: "Community" rerun (3 million, 2.1/4)/"100 Questions" (2.5 million, 1.7/3)
The CW: "The Vampire Diaries" rerun (1.8 million, 1.1/2)

18-49 leader: "So You Think You Can Dance" premiere (2.8)

9 p.m.

FOX: "So You Think You Can Dance" premiere (8.5 million, 5.2/9)
CBS: "CSI" rerun (8.3 million, 5.4/9)
ABC: "Hollywood Salutes Matt Damon" (3.3 million, 2.3/4)
NBC: "The Office" rerun (3 million, 2.0/4)/"30 Rock" rerun (2.8 million, 1.9/3)
The CW: "Supernatural" rerun (1.5 million, 0.9/2)

18-49 leader: "So You Think You Can Dance" premiere (3.2)

10 p.m.

CBS: "The Mentalist" rerun (9.9 million, 6.4/12)
ABC: "Grey's Anatomy" rerun (3.1 million, 2.3/4)
NBC: "The Office" rerun (2.6 million, 1.7/3), "Parks and Recreation" rerun (2.3 million, 1.6/3)

18-49 leader: "The Mentalist" (1.8)