Lost posted a week-on-week ratings gain and narrowly beat its closest timeslot rival Criminal Minds on Wednesday night, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

ABC led at 8pm with Dancing With The Stars, which averaged close to 20m viewers and a 14% share in the adults 18-49 demographic. Jericho on CBS came second, with 10.5m viewers and a 9% 18-49 share. NBC's comedy block, itself headed to Thursdays at the end of next month, averaged 5.7m viewers and a 5.5% 18-49 share, with 30 Rock being stronger than 20 Good Years.

At 9, Lost eked out a victory in terms of total viewers - the cult hit averaged 16.8m to Criminal Minds' 16.6m. That is a reversal of last week where the CBS show actually beat ABC in the hour. In terms of 18-49 audience share, however, the competition wasn't even close; Lost averaged a 17% share in the demo, while Criminal Minds managed 11%. NBC's The Biggest Loser trailed - albeit by a smaller margin than usual - with 7.8m viewers and an 8% 18-49 share.

CBS led at 10pm with CSI: NY averaging 17m viewers and a 14% share in 18-49. Dateline: NBC came second with 8.6m viewers and a 9% 18-49 share, while ABC's The Nine slumped to 8m viewers and an 8% 18-49 share.

The CW beat Fox in terms of 18-49 audience share; Fox, badly bruised by the postponement of Game 4 of the World Series, averaged 5.5m viewers and a 5% share all night with War At Home re-runs. The CW, boosted by One Tree Hill posting season high ratings, averaged 4.5m viewers and a 7% 18-49 share in primetime.

Wednesday nights and UK pickups