‘The Voice’ warbles past ‘American Idol’

It’s pretty clear: “American Idol” is giving way to “The Voice.”

For the week ending Sunday, NBC’S singing show once again crept past its archrival “Idol” among viewers ages 18 to 49, the demographic most advertisers care about, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen. “The Voice” drew a 6.2 rating, “Idol” a 5.7.

It was the fifth time in the last six weeks that “The Voice” has been the toprated prime-time program or has tied for that distinction.

It’s not all bad news for the Fox show, however — it still was the most-watched program among all viewers, with an average of 18.7 million tuning in for the Wednesday telecast, which featured the top 13 contestants taking on songs by Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. “The Voice” gathered 16.8 million.

The two airings of “Idol” helped Fox maintain its perch atop the overall 18-49 ratings, while CBS’ scripted hits like the drama “Person of Interest” — in a landmark for that show, it was the week’s No. 1 scripted show for the first time — gave it a lock on total viewers.

Basic cable ratings were led by AMC’S zombie epic “The Walking Dead,” with 6.89 million, which put it in a tie at No. 30 in the overall rankings.

HBO’S “Game Change,” the made-for-tv movie about the 2008 presidential campaign and the rise of Sarah Palin, delivered 2.1 million viewers in its Saturday premiere. HBO said it was the best showing for any TV movie on the network since the 2004 premiere of “Something the Lord Made” (2.6 million).