MediaWeek Online analyst Marc Berman told today's (Thursday) New York Post that the strong showing of Dark Angel was predictable, noting that stations that opt out of major political-event coverage usually do well. Moreover, he added, "Fox promoted that show so unbelievably, so massively that it's been everywhere. ... With that promotion comes the name James Cameron, and with James Cameron comes Titanic -- the biggest box office moneymaker of all time.

Just for that simple reason, even it had been a regular night of programming and it wasn't the debates, it still would have done well."

Source: Studio Briefing