NEW YORK (AP) – A pigskin clash plus hammy singers proved to be a winning formula last week for the Fox network last week, which had one of its biggest-ever audiences.

Fox’s broadcast of the NFC Championship game between the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks ranked second for the week, scoring an enormous audience of 35.2 million viewers.

But that wasn’t all. In the week’s top spot, the season premiere of “American Idol” was seen by 35.5 million viewers, and, in third place, the Wednesday edition of “Idol” drew 31.7 million viewers.

Other bright spots for Fox: “Skating with Celebrities” premiered in 12th place, and Monday’s two hours of “24” ranked 16th and 23rd, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Overall for the week in prime time, Fox was way ahead of the pack, averaging 19.2 million viewers (11.2 rating, 17 share). Excluding Super Bowl and World Series weeks, it was the highest-rated week in Fox’s history.

But CBS, the week’s runner-up, could claim its own victory, too. Although outside prime-time hours Sunday, its Sunday afternoon AFC Championship Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos attracted 39 million viewers – the most-watched broadcast on any network so far this season.

For the week in prime time, CBS averaged 11.9 million viewers (7.7 rating, 12 share), while ABC had 11.5 million (7.4 rating, 11 share), and NBC had 9.6 million (6.4 rating, 10 share). Univision had 4.1 million (2.1 rating, 3 share), the WB had 3.2 million (2.2 rating, 3 share), UPN had 2.6 million (1.8 rating, 3 share), and Pax TV had 470,000 (0.3 rating, 1 share).

NBC’s “Nightly News” led the evening news pack, averaging 10.2 million viewers (7.1 rating, 13 share), while ABC’s “World News Tonight” had 9.1 million (6.4 rating, 12 share), and the “CBS Evening News” had 7.9 million (5.5 rating, 11 share).

A ratings point represents 1,102,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 110.2 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.

For the week of Jan. 16-22, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 35.5 million; NFC Championship: Carolina at Seattle, Fox, 35.2 million; “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 31.7 million; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 27.1 million; “Desperate Housewives,” ABC, 25.3 million; NFC Championship – “Gun,” Fox, 24.6 million; “Without a Trace,” CBS, 23.1 million; “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 21.0 million; Lost,” ABC, 19.1 million; “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 19.0 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.nielsenmedia.com

AP-ES-01-24-06 1644EST