RATINGS RECAP: 9/16/13

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 16.0 million, 18-49 demo: 3.1
10:00 Castle (Repeat)
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
8:30 2 Broke Girls (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 2 Broke Girls (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:30 The Big Bang Theory (Repeat)
Viewers: 6.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
10:00 Under the Dome
Viewers: 12.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8 

NBC
8:00 The Million Second Quiz
Viewers: 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0
9:00 American Ninja Warrior
Viewers: 4.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
10:00 Siberia
Viewers: 1.8 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6

FOX
8:00 Bones
Viewers: 7.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:00 Sleepy Hollow
Viewers: 10.1 million, 18-49 demo: 3.5 

The first new series to premiere in 2013-14 had anything but a sleepy debut as FOX's Sleepy Hollow posted surprisingly strong numbers a week ahead of the official start to the fall season. First up though the season premiere of Bones was in line with its numbers for most of last season. This show isn't the type to surge for a season premiere or fall apart against competition so it should stay in the 2.0-2.3 demo range as long as it stays on Mondays (which as of now is only supposed to be through October). At 9pm was big news though as Sleepy Hollow premiered to an extremely healthy 10.1 million viewers and 3.5 demo and actually grew over the hour. It was a full two demo points ahead of last year's dud The Mob Doctor which premiered this same week. More surprisingly, it outperformed the recent Monday premieres of Alcatraz (3.3) and The Following (3.2). This is an excellent start for Hollow though next week will give us a better indication of whether viewers bought into the show.

Over on ABC, Dancing with the Stars premiered a week early to get out ahead of The Voice. It premiered just slightly below last spring's premiere but well above last fall's premiere of 14.1 million viewers and a 2.5 demo. This show can still be a big draw as evidenced by this strong premiere but it just gets killed by The Voice. Will ABC ever consider moving it elsewhere? Over on CBS, the season finale of Under the Dome surged seven tenths in the demo from last week's late start. This show only ended up a tenth below the second episode as it held up well all summer. It will be back next summer at the latest, possibly before if things go south on CBS. NBC's lineup including the season finales of American Ninja Warrior and Siberia were low against the competition.