'Idol' bow socks 'Sopranos'.(American Idol, The Sopranos)(Brief article)

Fox's season premiere of "American Idol" not only wiped out its broadcast competition last Wednesday, it drilled some holes in the second week of "The Sopranos" reruns on A&E. The Jan. 10 debut of "Sopranos," a week in advance of "Idol," was historic: The episode chalked up 4.3 million viewers--the best numbers of an off-network series kickoff in basic-cable history--from 9 to 10:06 p.m.

(There's runover because the average length of the episodes was more than 50 minutes when they played uncut on HBO.) A week later, on Sept. ...

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