American Idol 2's debut Tuesday night drew the largest audience ever for a Fox non-sports show, 26.5 million viewers tuned in:

It eclipsed the 22.8 million people who watched Kelly Clarkson win the first "American Idol" competition in September.

"We're having a very happy day at Fox," said Entertainment President Gail Berman. "We certainly didn't expect to come close to the finale's numbers, and to exceed them by 16 percent is a dream come true."

The conventional wisdom was that "American Idol," a classic summertime diversion, would have trouble drawing an audience during the winter when faced with tougher competition.

Its success gives Fox, which has been struggling this television season, its second big hit in a month, joining "Joe Millionaire," which was seen by more than 17 million viewers last week (as was ABC's "The Bachelorette"). [AP]