Thanks to a bump from "American Idol," Fox earned some good new about "Fringe" as the J.J. Abrams show picked up its best audience since Sept. 16. Tuesday's episode earned a 7.1 rating/10 share according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research, tying in overall audience with "Biggest Loser: Couples" on NBC and finishing just behind an inauguration special on ABC. The 7.1 rating is in a territory "Fringe" hasn't seen since "House" opened its season last September on the show's second week, giving it a 39 percent bump from its premiere. That number didn't last long, however. By the very next week, "Fringe" was back to where it started in terms of audience, and traversed through October and November with some slight erosion. The audience is up 34 percent from the last time "Fringe" aired an episode Dec. 2, the 5.3/8 coming close to its smallest audience so far. But if the help from "American Idol" continues, it could be smooth sailing for the show from here, especially if its effort to bring in new viewers by spending several minutes recapping previous storylines pays off. "Fringe" beat an inauguration special on CBS, and "Privileged" on The CW. Thanks to "American Idol," Fox won the night with a 9.6/14, according to Zap2it, ahead of the 7.3/11 from ABC> CBS, NBC and The CW rounded out the bottom networks. Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued. Express yourself and be part of the news! Leave a comment below or join our rabid discussions on the SyBoards.