'Joe Millionaire' Jolts TV Ratings

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FOX delivered a heavy dose of reality last week, and was rewarded in the TV ratings for the effort.

According to Nielsen Media Research, FOX dominated the week of Feb. 17-23, capturing every demographic from kids and teens to adults ages 18 to 34, 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 (6.7/15).

CBS was a strong second in the key TV audience demographics and again won the race in total viewers, boosted by Sunday's Grammy Awards.

Monday's finale of FOX's "Joe Millionaire," matching Evan Marriott and Zora Andrich (well suited or not), became the highest-rated entertainment program in the network's history.

Other than post-Super Bowl programs, it's also the highest-rated show among adults 18 to 49 on any network since the finale of the original "Survivor" on CBS in August 2000.

FOX was also helped by "American Idol" and the two-hour "Michael Jackson: The Interview ...," which delivered the network's best Thursday entertainment ratings (14.16 million viewers) in four years.

As for last week's Top 10 prime-time programs, they were as follows:

1. "Joe Millionaire," FOX, 40 million viewers
2. "Joe Millionaire" Special, FOX, 29.3 million
3. "CSI," CBS, 28 million
4. "45th Annual Grammy Awards," CBS, 24.8 million
5. "ER," NBC, 22.4 million
6. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 20. 4 million
7. "Survivor: Amazon," CBS, 20.3 million
8. "Law & Order," NBC, 19.8 million
9. "American Idol" Tuesday, FOX, 19.7 million
10. "Friends," NBC, 19.5 million