Most Watched Show Last Week

Idol's Bad Hair Days

The ponyhawk was Sanjaya's biggest hair yet. As for its ratings...

For the fourth straight week, "American Idol" was down from its year-ago numbers.

Tuesday's "Idol" (first place, 28.2 million), featuring Sanjaya Malakar's latest hair-raising 'do, and the rest of the top 10 finalists, was off 3.5 million viewers for the same show last year, Nielsen Media Research stats show. Wednesday's "Idol" (second place, 26.9 million), featuring Chris Sligh's dismissal, was off 800,000.

Overall, as the big-fat numbers indicate, the Fox show is having no trouble dominating prime time; it's just having trouble keeping up with its own storied past.

Here's a look at last week's most watched shows:

1. "American Idol" (Tues.), Fox, 28.2 million
2. "American Idol" (Wed.), Fox, 26.9 million
3. "CSI," CBS, 22.7 million
4. "House," Fox, 20.8 million
5. "Dancing with the Stars" (Mon.), ABC, 20.4 million