“NCIS” just keeps getting bigger. Preliminary ratings for the show’s season premiere have it doing 20 million viewers with a 4.6 in the 18-49 demographic, a dominant number that marked a near-30% increase over last year.
More importantly for CBS, the success of its 8PM drama helped the network stay in charge for the duration of the night. Debuting spin-off “NCIS: Los Angeles” opened with 18.3 million viewers and a 4.3 in the demo, solidly topping what “The Mentalist” did in the slot last season (and it narrowly beat the original “NCIS” in households). Though it dipped notably from its “NCIS” lead-ins, premiering “The Good Wife” won the 10PM hour (13.7 million, 3.1).
Elsewhere, ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” continued to show signs of age–its Tuesday episode fell to 15.1 million viewers with a 3.5 in the demo. Lead-out “The Forgotten,” a premiering series, captured 9.5 million viewers and a 2.5 demo number at 10PM.
FOX’s “Hell’s Kitchen” is no “NCIS”-level megahit, but its competent 18-49 performance in the face of increased network competition gave the network a decent night. The two-hour episode earned 6.8 million viewers with a 3.3 in adults 18-49.
“The Biggest Loser” dipped to 7.4 million viewers with a 3.1 in the demo this week, although by providing a stronger lead-in than Monday’s “Heroes,” it boosted “The Jay Leno Show”‘s viewership (6.8 million, 2.4).
Luckilly for the lukewarm NBC, there is a network going through more trouble. The CW’s Tuesday woes continued, as both “90210” and “Melrose Place” were down. While “90210”‘s decline has been gradual this season (2.2 million, 1.1), the new “Melrose Place” is getting hit hard. The latest airing mustered just 1.5 million viewers with a .8 in the 18-49 demographic.