Friday nights continue to be a source of pain for broadcast networks. Absolutely nothing “popped” on premiere night, with an episode of “Dateline” actually posting the night’s highest numbers (2.2 adults 18-49 demo, 7.8 million).
On the scripted side, CBS’ “Blue Bloods” returned to a 2.0 with 11.9 million viewers. This was down slightly from last season’s premiere, but for a Friday performance of a show obviously built with an older skew, the rating is still decent.
Earlier in the night, “A Gifted Man” premiered to little fanfare at a 1.4 with 9.3 million viewers, while “CSI: NY” was in at a 1.8 and 10.7 million viewers.
Over on FOX, “Kitchen Nightmares” opened to a 1.6 with 3.8 million viewers, while “Fringe” was down from last year’s first Friday number at a 1.5 with 3.5 million. Insofar as FOX renewed the show on similar data last season, it is not a lock that “Fringe” will definitely be canceled, but the show continues to make it very clear that it is simply not a hit.
