NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - "The Contender" may not be NBC Universal's million-dollar baby after all.

NBC's new reality show and latest bid for a ratings turnaround took a direct hit during its Monday debut, trailing behind Fox and CBS in the battle for television viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

"The Contender," the long-awaited boxing reality show created by top Hollywood producer Mark Burnett and featuring Sylvester Stallone, drew a weak 5.6 million viewers on average during its 90-minute broadcast.

Fox, owned by News Corp. (Research), triumphed for the night thanks to the popularity of the "American Idol" star search, which captured 15.3 million viewers. The drama "24" attracted 8.8 million watchers.

CBS was a close second for the night, helped by the comedy "Two and a Half Men" and "CSI: Miami" which, respectively, picked up 12.5 million and 15.3 million viewers on average. CBS is owned by Viacom (Research).

NBC took third place, although ABC came close with "Boss Swap" and "Super Nanny."

Ed Martin, programming editor for industry newsletter Jack Myers Report, was not surprised by the results.

"Boxing perhaps is just too specialized" to attract a mass audience, said Martin, even though a film about a prizefighter, "Million Dollar Baby," romped at the Oscars.

A similar -- though not as sleek or star-studded as "The Contender" -- boxing reality show from Fox, "The Next Great Champ," flopped miserably with viewers during a brief run last summer.

NBC is not the only one looking at a black eye if "The Contender" stumbles: Burnett, the whiz behind "Survivor" and "The Apprentice," is the welterweight champion of reality television with only one notable defeat, last summer's fleeting "The Casino" on Fox.

"The Contender" had a rough start even before it hit the airwaves, having been rescheduled a few times. Martin said that the debut in March and on a late Monday night didn't bode well.

"When a network debuts something in March it usually means they don't have very big expectations for it," he said. What's more, the boxing bout was facing tough odds. "The competition (from Fox and CBS on Monday night) was too intense," said Martin.

However, he cautions that it's too early to declare "The Contender" down for the count. A new episode will air Thursday night and then it will fall into its regular 8 p.m. slot on Sundays, where it faces a daunting challenge from ABC hit "Extreme Makeover" and the popular "Cold Case" crime drama on CBS.

NBC has seen its ratings fall precipitously this season. The dive has surprised many Hollywood and Madison Avenue executives who are unaccustomed to seeing the longtime ratings leader so humbled. NBC now ranks third of the big four networks in evening programming.

Many industry observers expected the network to suffer after "Friends" and Frasier." They just didn't expected the pain to be this bad.

That said, two NBC shows are doing well: the crime dramas "Medium" and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury."

Recovering from the slump could take on new urgency soon at NBC. Ratings influence the ad rates that networks can command and the annual advance selling of commercial time for the coming fall season kicks off in May.

With billions of dollars in ad revenues at stake, NBC's hyper-competitive rivals will likely make the network's ratings woes widely known to prospective advertisers.

But, as Martin noted, ABC was the network down-for-the-count a year ago. Since then, the Walt Disney (Research) network has found another wind thanks to a string of hits, including the drama "Lost" and the campy soap "Desperate Housewives."

"Life can turn around pretty quickly in network television," said Martin.