The second night of “American Idol” was down in viewers — but still led Fox to record numbers on its new night.

“Idol” averaged nearly 23 million viewers Thursday, down 3 million from Wednesday’s season premiere (26.1 million).

But that was enough to lead Fox to a prime-time win, and gave the network its best Thursday-night ratings since 1995 — and its best total viewership since 1993 (when it aired “The Simpsons,” “Martin,” “In Living Color” and “Down the Shore“).