AirLockAlpha.com

"American Idol" seemed to be the way many viewers are going Wednesday nights, and maybe that's having a toll on "Lost." Or then again, maybe it's too science-fiction for the masses.

Many genre shows are struggling to stay afloat right now, and while "Lost" is keeping a mostly stable audience, it's still not pulling in the audiences it once did, even last year.

"Lost" earned a 5.9 rating/9 share Wednesday according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. That was down more than 9 percent from the previous week, and finished behind both Fox's karaoke contest and "Criminal Minds" on CBS. "Lost" did finish ahead of "Life" on NBC, which managed just a 3.3/5, according to Zap2it.

There was no new "Knight Rider" available for NBC, which went with a "Biggest Loser" episode instead. But ABC continues to try with "Life On Mars," which mustered just a 3.6/6 in the 10 p.m. slot. That was down nearly 3 percent from the previous week, and lost 39 percent of its lead-in audience from "Lost."

One highlight about ABC's audience, however, is that it didn't do too badly in the adults 18-49 demographic, a key audience group for advertisers. While no one could reach the level of the 8.9 achieved by "American Idol," it did tie CBS for second with a 2.7, finishing ahead of NBC.

In the overall audience, ABC tied with NBC for third with a 4.2/7, but added some more viewers than what NBC had.

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.