Fox’s tactical deployment of a 7-minute “American Idol” overrun seemingly failed to drain viewers from ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” results show premiere Tuesday night.

“Dancing” generated a 4.4 rating among adults 18 to 49 (11.4 million households), according to preliminary Nielsens, marking the best premiere of a results show for the series. The rating came despite a planned “Idol” overrun that’s been viewed as an attempt siphon interest in the ABC hit. The premiere of ABC’s new reality show, “The Great American Dream Vote,” did not fare as well, however, generating a mere 1.9 (4.2 HH) in its 10 p.m. slot.

Fox won the night among the demo and households, with “Idol” (10.4 / 15.6 HH), down 12 percent from last week’s two-hour telecast. Fox expects that number to increase once the nationals are in, adding in the final minutes. The return of “House” garnered a 9.5 (12.9 HH), a number that will likely slip in the nationals.

NBC was a distant second for the night, with “Dateline” (2.0 /4.1 HH), “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (2.7 / 6.1 HH) and “Law & Order: SVU” (4.3 / 9.0).

ABC was third, which in addition to the results show and “Dream Vote” also had a “Dancing” recap (2.1 / 6.3 HH).

The CW’s “Pussycat Dolls: Search for the Next Doll” (1.2 / 1.8 HH) slipped slightly from the previous week.

The early arrival of Daylight Savings Time this year continues to be a factor, with a 9 percent average 18-to-49 viewership decrease across all networks for the night.

(Editor: Romanelli)