September 24th, 2008 1:48 pm

Alphabet Cleans Up On Opening Night

ABC have cleaned up on the first night of ratings for the US fall season, boasting the largest overall audience figures of all networks. CBS won in the demos with its CSI: Miami/Monday night comedy block.

ABC’s Dancing With the Stars won its timeslot from 8pm to 10pm with massive overall audience figures (5.3/13 in 18-49, 21.34m), setting up a huge lead in audience for legal dramedy Boston Legal. It made for the largest audience on the opening Monday of the season in nine years for the alphabet network.

The CBS comedy block scored highly in the young adult demo with The Big Bang Theory (3.6 rating/10 share in adults 18-49, 9.32 million viewers overall) and How I Met Your Mother (4.0/10, 9.79m) which scored its highest season premiere ever. Two and a Half Men gained on its previous years figures (5.3/12, 14.48m), while newcomer Worst Week closed the night (3.8/8, 10.87m).
NBC didn’t fair as well with overall audience figures. Heroes scored its lowest season premiere ever, however still holding up quite well in the demos (5.0/12, 10.09m).

FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2.3/6 in 18-49, 5.89m) and Prison Break (2.5/6, 5.84m) failed to impress as usual, having the unfortunate disadvantage of starting several weeks before ratings season.

The CW remained steady in its demos with Gossip Girl (1.6/4, 3.33m) and One Tree Hill (1.5/3, 3.14m), placing the green network third for the night in women 18-34 (3.6/9). Gossip Girl also scored its second best 18-34 score to date (2.4/7).