RATINGS RECAP: 9/27/10

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 21.3 million, 18-49 demo: 4.8
10:00 Castle
Viewers: 11.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 9.0 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9
8:30 Rules of Engagement
Viewers: 8.1 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
9:00 Two and a Half Men 
Viewers: 13.9 million, 18-49 demo: 4.8
9:30 Mike & Molly
Viewers: 11.1 million, 18-49 demo: 3.7
10:00 Hawaii Five-0
Viewers: 12.7 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6

NBC
8:00 Chuck
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:00 The Event
Viewers: 9.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9
10:00 Chase
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1

FOX
8:00 House
Viewers: 10.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.8
9:00 Lone Star
Viewers: 3.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0 

The second week of the season got underway last season and there was good news for ABC and CBS, bad news for FOX, and so-so news for NBC. On ABC, Dancing with the Stars was dominating and managed to retain nearly all its viewers who turned in for the premiere while dipping slightly in the demo. The news was even better for Castle which rose in both viewers and the demo even with Dancing's slight drop.

CBS's comedies got mostly good news. How I Met Your Mother managed to build on last week's premiere, reaching 9 million viewers and nearly a 4 in the demo. It also nipped House for #2 in the demo, very impressive. The weak link was Rules of Engagement which dipped slightly in overall viewers. It did rise by .1 demo point but lost more of Mother's audience than the first week and fell behind House. This is not what CBS hoped for when it finally let its pinch hitter get a full season. Two and a Half Men dipped just slightly from last week's big premiere and Mike & Molly saw slim declines for Week 2 (about 10% in viewers and 6% in the demo). If it can settle around its current levels, which I believe it will, CBS will have to be satisfied. It will never be The Big Bang Theory but it can be solid. Finally, Hawaii Five-0 also saw slight declines similar to Mike & Molly levels. It's not the breakaway hit CBS hoped for but those are solid Week 2 numbers.

NBC's results were so-so at best, but not horrendous. Chuck continued to die in its 8pm slot. It will probably hold steady around the low levels of just over 5 million and a 2 in the demo. The Event got mixed results. It dropped approximately 17% in viewers and about 20% in the demo which is ok for a Week 2 performance of a heavily hyped show. Still, any further drops would be very concerning. If it can level off here, NBC will be ok. If it continues to drop, especially at this rate, there will be trouble. Dipping below a 3 in the demo isn't promising. Chase saw close to a 15% drop in viewers, but under 10% in the demo. It didn't drop as much as I thought it would, but it still could be headed for Mercy/Trauma levels from last year.

FOX saw about the same from House. The show is definitely down from previous years and the drop to third in the demo in the 8pm half hour is concerning. Still, FOX has much bigger concerns as evident by the now cancelled Lone Star's 9pm performance. Lone Star tumbled about 22% in viewers from its already very low premiere numbers and the demo tied the low rated Gossip Girl on the CW. It was obviously an easy but probably painful decision to swing the ax for FOX.