RATINGS RECAP: 1/2/12

ABC
8:00 The Bachelor
Viewers: 7.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4
10:00 Celebrity Wife Swap
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3

CBS
8:00 How I Met Your Mother
Viewers: 10.1 million, 18-49 demo: 3.9
8:30 2 Broke Girls
Viewers: 12.1 million, 18-49 demo: 4.4
9:00 Two and a Half Men
Viewers: 13.9 million, 18-49 demo: 4.5
9:30 Mike & Molly
Viewers: 11.9 million, 18-49 demo: 3.8
10:00 Hawaii Five-0
Viewers: 11.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9

NBC
8:00 Who's Still Standing?
Viewers: 5.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 Fear Factor
Viewers: 6.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4
10:00 Rock Center with Brian Williams
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1 

FOX
8:00 House (Repeat)
Viewers; 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
9:00 House (Repeat)
Viewers: 3.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2 

On the first Monday of 2012, new episodes were back on three networks after mostly repeats through the holidays. ABC started with the season premiere of The Bachelor which had a solid debut but it was down significantly from last year's 9.6 million viewers and 2.9 demo. It looks like The Bachelor may be following the downward trend most reality shows have been on this season. It will be interesting to see how it does in coming weeks. At 10pm was the series premiere of Celebrity Wife Swap which had a decent premiere, particularly in the demo where it was on par with Castle's recent performances.

CBS's hit lineup was back with new episodes but numbers were down across the board for the comedies from the last new airings. At 8pm, How I Met Your Mother was down 1.4 million viewers and six tenths in the demo from its last airing way back on December 5, hitting a season low. At 8:30pm, 2 Broke Girls was down just seven tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo as it nearly eclipsed Two and a Half Men for best demo performance of the night. This show is a huge hit. At 9pm, Men was down a million viewers and two tenths in the demo for a season low while Mike & Molly was down nine tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo for a season low in the latter category. Finally, Hawaii Five-0 was up seven tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo as it aired opposite unscripted programming on ABC and NBC.

Over on NBC, Who's Still Standing? was a decent performer at 8pm. It's doing no worse than The Sing Off and came in with less expectations so it's been a solid filler. At 9pm, Fear Factor was down four tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo, showing just a little slide after a big second week drop. Also a good filler for the peacock - these fillers are more impressive than their regular programs. At 10pm, Rock Center was very low as usual. It will likely get killed even more when it moves to Wednesdays.