RATINGS RECAP: 10/4/10

ABC
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
Viewers: 19.9 million, 18-49 demo: 4.3
10:00 Castle
Viewers: 10.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6 

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 8.6 million, 18-49 demo: 3.5
8:30 Rules of Engagement
Viewers: 8.4 million, 18-49 demo: 3.0
9:00 Two and a Half Men
Viewers: 14.4 million, 18-49 demo: 4.5
9:30 Mike & Molly
Viewers: 12.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9
10:00 Hawaii Five-0
Viewers: 12.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.5

NBC
8:00 Chuck
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9
9:00 The Event
Viewers: 7.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4
10:00 Chase
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

FOX
8:00 House
Viewers: 10.8 million, 18-49 demo: 4.0
9:00 Lie to Me
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
 
Week three of the season kicked off with good and bad news for freshmen series. ABC kicked things off with Dancing with the Stars which dipped a bit from its first two weeks but remains way up in year-to-year comparisons. Castle followed and was back to its Week one levels after a jump last week. This has become a very steady young performer for ABC which is otherwise made up of underperforming new dramas and aging declining veteran dramas.

CBS started off with How I Met Your Mother which was down slightly from last week but still a solid 8pm performer. Rules of Engagement dipped a bit from Mother but had its best total viewer numbers of the young season and its best retention yet. Two and a Half Men was up in total viewers but down in the demo from last week. New comedy Mike & Molly got back up to its premiere numbers in both viewers and demo after a dip last week which is great news for CBS as it looks to be another solid sitcom on the eye network. Hawaii Five-0 was down only slightly from last week but is getting older-skewing. Its premiere demo was the same as Mike & Molly, last week was down .1 and this week is down .4. It's still solid for CBS but not a breakaway hit.

NBC had some bad news for its new-look Monday. Low-rated Chuck was basically even with last week's performance. The Event continued to build from Chuck but was down another heavy 17% in viewers and 18% in the demo. This is a much bigger drop than NBC was hoping for and the show could be doomed despite solid critical reactions. It will have to stop bleeding pretty much immediately if it wants to have a chance at survival. It's certainly not the breakout hit NBC needed. Chase was also down but not as much. NBC may let this be if it can hold here for a little while as it has other bigger problems but it's certainly not doing well.

And finally over on FOX, House posted its best total viewer number of the young season and was up in the demo from last week but it is still showing its age. The season premiere of Lie to Me replaced the cancelled Lone Star and was up significantly from that failed series' numbers but was not a big success overall as it was getting much better numbers last fall in this slot. Still, it is not likely to slip much in the weeks ahead so FOX can take a breath for now.