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Fox Wins Sweeps Thanks to Foxworthy’s ‘5th Grader’

The network that aired the Super Bowl won the February sweeps the last two years in a row, but this year, Fox came from behind to beat out CBS.

Media buyers were unsure whether Fox’s American Idol, still spectacular in ratings, would be strong enough during sweeps month to beat CBS, which aired the Super Bowl, writes Media Life. But the network aired a new game show hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. The show posted huge numbers, held most of its American Idol lead-in, and helped pull Fox to a come-from-behind win.

The new show averaged a 9.4 adults 18-49 last Thursday, holding 90 percent of American Idol’s 10.4. The new show’s Thursday rating was down a bit from Wednesday’s 9.7, but its lead-in dipped on Thursday, as well.

Fox has ordered four more episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, and they will air on Thursdays at 8 p.m. Three more episodes had already been planned for the next three Thursdays. Although American Idol will no longer air on Thursdays beginning two weeks from now, the new game show should continue to give Fox a strong presence on Thursdays. Even if it loses half its audience, it could still compete for No. 1 in the time slot.

Fox trailed CBS entering the final night of sweeps month by 0.1, but managed to pull ahead thanks to its new game show, finishing the month with an average 5.2 rating and 13 share, according to another Media Life article. CBS snagged second with a 5.0/13.

ABC took third with a 3.9/10, followed by NBC at 2.9/8, Univision at 1.7/4, the CW at 1.4/3, Telemundo at 0.4/1, and Telefutura at 0.3/1.