LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Summertime couch potatoes apparently find 12 strangers cohabiting in a house packed with cameras just slightly more appealing than a serialized contest to crown the nation's next pop star.
In the biggest ratings matchup yet between marquee "reality" shows this summer, the CBS premiere of "Big Brother 3" went up against "American Idol" on Fox and came out on top -- but not by much, according to figures on Thursday from Nielsen Media Research.
The latest group of CBS "house guests" were No. 1 in household ratings and total audience in their 9 p.m. Wednesday debut opposite Fox's teen idol wannabes.
But the margin of victory was fairly slim by both measures -- 6.0 to 5.3 in the ratings, and 9.2 million vs. 9 million in average number of viewers.
In the key demographic of adult viewers under 50, the group most prized by advertisers, CBS and Fox were tied with a 4.1 rating. Furthermore, "American Idol" bested "Big Brother" in two other young demographics -- teen viewers and adults 18-34 -- that make up Fox network's target audience for its show.
"That's who 'American Idol' is going for," Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said.
The shows will not normally air head-to-head. This week's direct match-up came because Fox's normal hour-long installment of "Idol" on Tuesday was preempted by baseball.
"We were virtually tied in total viewers, and we weren't even supposed to be on Wednesday night," Grogin said.
Indeed, "American Idol" has proven to be Fox's biggest success this summer, with its Tuesday edition ranking No. 2 in prime time among adults under 50 since May, right behind "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ( news - Y! TV)" on CBS.
Rival reality show, NBC's stunt-oriented "Dog Eat Dog," ranks No. 3 for the summer in the adults-under-50 crowd.
In the only other significant head-to-head matchup between "reality shows" this summer, ABC's "The Mole 2" routinely goes up against Fox's usual hour-long edition of "American Idol" on Tuesday nights, but has always lost.
The Fox network is a unit of Fox Entertainment Inc. , which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Ltd. CBS is owned by Viacom Inc. . NBC is a division of General Electric Co. . And ABC and is part of The Walt Disney Co. .
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