‘Dancing,’ ‘Mother,’ ‘Men’ and ‘Gossip Girl’ do well Monday; ‘Heroes’ not so much
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The fall TV season officially started Monday with good news for CBS’ comedies and ABC’s ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ But NBC may be waking up to the cold reality that its onetime hit, the comic-book-like epic ‘Heroes,’ will never be restored to its former luster.
‘Dancing,’ back for its seventh cycle, was the night’s most-watched program, with 21.2 million total viewers, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research. However, the show slipped 9% compared with last fall’s premiere in the key viewers aged 18-49 group, to a 5.3 rating/13 share.
After years of effort, CBS is reaping rewards with its sitcom strategy. ‘How I Met Your Mother’ returned for its fourth season up a big 21% in the 18-49 category (4.0/10) compared with last season’s opener. ‘Two and a Half Men’ looked solid with 14.9 million viewers (5.3/12 in 18-49). But the critically acclaimed new comedy ‘Worst Week’ seemed a bit wobbly, hanging on to a relatively low 71% of ‘Men’s’ young-adult audience. ‘CSI: Miami’ returned for its seventh season with an easy timeslot victory (16.9 million).
‘Heroes’ spent last season dodging brickbats from fans upset by confusing new plot developments; it was then forced into a lengthy interruption caused by the writers strike. So the show’s third season will be critical to assessing its long-term prospects. Monday’s premiere sowed further doubts, gathering just 9.9 million viewers and a 4.9/12 in 18-49, which matched the show’s lowest rating ever.
Meanwhile, the CW’s ‘Gossip Girl’ weathered the heightened competition well, drawing a strong 3.9/11 in its core demographic of women aged 18-34 (3.4 million viewers overall).
Last week’s winners and losers after the jump...
NBC and Fox battled for ratings dominance during the final week before the official start of the fall season, with pro football giving NBC the clear edge by week’s end.
NBC’s Sunday game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers amassed an impressive audience of 22.2 million total viewers, making it the No. 1 program for the week ending Sept. 21, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.
On Tuesday, the fifth-season opener of Fox’s medical drama ‘House’ (14.8 million) proved especially potent in the adults aged 18-49 category, where it ranked No. 2 for the week (5.6 rating/16 share). As a lead-in, ‘House’ also dramatically boosted the fortunes of the new sci-fi drama ‘Fringe’ (13.3 million), which saw its numbers leap after a disappointing premiere the previous week.
CBS’ summer cop drama ‘Flashpoint’ wrapped up its limited run Thursday on a high note, taking its timeslot with 9.7 million viewers and earning a renewal from the network.
But the news was worse for ABC, which sank to record-low ratings for Sunday’s critically drubbed 60th Annual Primetime Emmys telecast (12.3 million).
Overall, NBC led the week (8.3 million average viewers), followed by CBS (7.6 million), Fox (6.7 million) and ABC (5.9 million). Among viewers 18-49, NBC led Fox, 8.1 versus 7.1.
Earlier in the week, the Cowboys proved their Nielsen mettle with an ESPN matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles that topped the week’s basic-cable results (18.6 million viewers).
-- Scott Collins
