Presumably thanks to its buzzworthy cast, Monday’s season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” proved that the franchise is far from dead.
Way up from the lackluster fall numbers, Monday’s “Dancing” posted a 6.3 adults 18-49 rating wtih 23.9 million viewers. The premiere moved slightly upwards from last year, a rare seasonal spike for a series of the sort.
According to THR, the show drew its best season premiere viewership to date and second best demo rating.
“Castle” led out of the premiere with a series-high 3.6 rating and 12.9 million viewers.
The “Dancing” premiere took a sizable chunk out of three CBS comedies, bringing “How I Met Your Mother” (8.5 million, 3.5), “Two and a Half Men” (14.4 million, 5.0) and “The Big Bang Theory” (13.4 million, 5.2) to their lowest ratings of 2010. Because last week’s episode led out of a “How I Met” re-run, this week’s “Rules of Engagement,” however, parlayed a better lead-in to an improved 3.3 with 8.5 million viewers.
“CSI: Miami” was at a 3.2 with 10.7 million, handing the 10PM hour off to “Castle.”
FOX’s male-skewing “24” largely weathered the storm against “Dancing with the Stars,” matching last week’s 2.7 demo rating and declining slightly to 8.5 million viewers despite only receiving a “House” re-run lead-in this week. Its hour was also more congested due to originals of “Men” and “Big Bang.”
Still, a 2.7 for “24” is nothing to celebrate.
NBC’s Monday lineup continued to look bleak–“Chuck” averaged a 1.9 with 5.4 million viewers, while “Trauma” was only good for 1.5 and 4.3 million. “Law & Order” posted a 1.8 with 5.9 million at 10PM.
The CW’s underperforming Monday lineup included “Life UneXpected” (2.0 million, 0.9) and “Gossip Girl” (1.9 million, 0.9).
Ratings Sources: nielsen media research, thrfeed