RATINGS RECAP: 9/20/10

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 21.3 million, 18-49 demo: 5.1
10:00 Castle
Viewers: 10.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 8.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6
8:30 Rules of Engagement
Viewers: 8.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.1
9:00 Two and a Half Men
Viewers: 14.6 million, 18-49 demo: 4.9
9:30 Mike & Molly
Viewers: 12.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9
10:00 Hawaii Five-0
Viewers: 14.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9

NBC
8:00 Chuck
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:00 The Event
Viewers: 10.9 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6
10:00 Chase
Viewers: 7.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3  

FOX
8:00 House
Viewers: 10.7 million, 18-49 demo: 4.2
9:00 Lone Star
Viewers: 4.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3  

Premiere week kicked off with ABC and NBC posting year-to-year gains while CBS slipped a bit and FOX fell apart. Dancing with the Stars was the big winner of the night with easy wins in viewers and the demo. Although I expected a big debut, over 20 million viewers is a huge start. Although it's a bit lower than last Spring, it is way up from last Fall. This reality show is showing no signs of slowing down. The big loser of the night was the disappointing debut for Lone Star which was dead on arrival. FOX may stick by it for a bit due to critical buzz but those numbers are very disappointing. I thought it might get lost in the shuffle, but not this badly.

Among other series debuts, The Event had a solid premiere for NBC and even showed growth in the half-hour, which series like this rarely do so that has to be a positive sign for NBC which hasn't seen over 10 million viewers in this hour from a regular series in a long time. Chase followed and lost a significant chunk of the audience from The Event. It doesn't seem like it will be around for the long haul with such a soft debut. Over on CBS, Mike & Molly had a decent but not stellar debut. It lost a full demo point from Two and a Half Men which is concerning. No one expected it to get the numbers of The Big Bang Theory, but much more of a drop would raise red flags. Hawaii Five-0 had a good debut but it was below what I expected. It also seems to be another old-skewing drama and isn't quite the improvement over CSI: Miami I thought it would be.

Among other returning shows, Castle was solid as usual - losing a lot of Dancing's audience, but it took care of Chase though it trailed Hawaii. CBS's 8pm comedies were on par with last year for the most part while Two and a Half Men continued to deliver strong numbers even as it ages. On NBC, Chuck was predictably soft and in last place. It was impressive how much The Event was able to build on Chuck's weak numbers. Finally on FOX, House was down significantly from fall numbers last year as the show may be showing its age. It remains strong in the demo though, finishing third to Dancing and Men.