Katie Couric’s prime-time newscast was predictably steamrolled by “American Idol” Wednesday night – but it did better than everything else that wasn’t singing last night.

Couric’s experimental 8 p.m. edition of the “CBS Evening News” – billed as the first primetime network newscast in history – averaged 6.5 million viewers – way behind “Idol” and its 25 million.

In fact, more people watched Couric’s regular 6:30 p.m. newscast than the primetime show, which is averaging just under 7 million viewers a night so far this year.

But it did beat a repeat of “Lost” (5.4 million) and a new episode of NBC’s “Knight Rider” (6.1 million).