Fewer 'Idol' Viewers by Benjamin Toss of New York Times

One day after the premiere audience for Fox’s "American Idol" fell 4 million viewers shy of the series’ 2007 debut, the talent competition slipped further in the ratings on Wednesday. Still, television’s most popular series continued to crush its competition on the night by tens of millions of viewers, drawing 30.3 million from 8 to 10 p.m., Nielsen estimated. That tally, however, represented a decline of 3 million from Tuesday’s premiere and 6.7 million from the series’ first Wednesday installment a year ago. In second place, NBC trailed far behind Fox but got a boost from both “Deal or No Deal” at 8 (11.8 million) and “Law & Order” at 10 (11.6 million). CBS finished third, struggling at 8 with “Power of 10” (4.9 million) but faring better at 9 with the two-hour conclusion of the mini-series “Comanche Moon” (12.1 million). ABC ranked fourth over all but edged past CBS for third place among adults 18 to 49.