“How I Met Your Mother” Ratings Sink, “Dancing with the Stars” Opens Okay

The sudden decline CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother” had experienced for its past few originals, despite limited opposing competition on broadcast, began to appear somewhat troublesome. “How I Met” remains a hit and has been renewed for two additional seasons, but if it was dipping into the low-to-mid 3s for these episodes, how would it fare when the mammoth “Dancing with the Stars” returned?

The answer, so far, is not great. Up against the return of “Dancing,” the show dipped to a relatively-low 2.9 adults 18-49 rating with 7.95 million viewers. “Dancing” always delivers a mild blow to competing shows, but it is not as if “Mother” has never delivered above a 3.0 against the reality juggernaut before.

In addition to the possibility of some lost buzz for the show, it appears the lack of original “Two and a Half Men” episodes might be taking its toll on the entire CBS comedy lineup. Having that flagship show in the middle of the lineup seemed to provide a halo effect, and without that assistance, CBS comedies lose a degree of “must-see” feel.

Disappointing for “Mother” is the fact that the episode was a pivotal, well-reviewed one–Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) finally met his father as his father (John Lithgow).

Other CBS shows: “Mad Love” (2.3 rating, 6.55 million viewers), “Men” repeat (2.6 rating, 9.14 million viewers), “Mike & Molly” (3.0 rating, 9.68 million)

— As for “Dancing with the Stars,” its season premiere posted a dominant 5.1 adults 18-49 rating with 22.27 million viewers. But for all its dominance, this was down notably from the 6.4 for last spring’s premiere.