Alphabet soups up
Eye's 'CSI' skeins also strong
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NBC's "My Name Is Earl" and UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" were notable exceptions among good-looking newbies, but the first week of the 2005-06 season was dominated by familiar faves.
Looking the strongest at the outset is ABC, whose returning series "Desperate Housewives," "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" all placed among the top five in adults 18-49, with "DH" at No. 1 (12.3/26). Alphabet claimed six of the week's top 10 in the demo -- the most for any net in premiere week in three years, according to Nielsen.
And at CBS, returnees "CSI" and "CSI: Miami" opened in the top 10, with the Thursday original standing as the week's most-watched program overall (28.36 million).
ABC won premiere week in adults 18-49 for the first time in 10 years, with its 4.7 rating/12 share during the Sept. 19-25 frame, topping CBS (4.1/11) and well ahead of NBC (3.4/9) and Fox (2.8/7). UPN (1.8/5) bested the WB (1.4/4) for fifth.
The Alphabet also prevailed in adults 25-54 (5.4/13) and adults 18-34 (3.9/12), with CBS on top in total viewers (12.9 million).
ABC, Fox and UPN were all up vs. last season's premiere week, helping the six broadcast networks collectively improve upon their ratings perf vs. last year in 18-49, 25-54 and 18-34.
Both ABC and CBS benefited from an extra hour of primetime football, with the Alphabet performing much better than usual in Monday's opening hour with the New Orleans Saints-New York Giants NFL game (5.3/16 in 18-49, 13.64m) and CBS dominating Sunday's leadoff hour with the end of the New England Patriots-Pittsburgh Steelers thriller (8.0/25, 21.80m), which was the Eye's second highest rated hour of the week.
Who wins premiere week carries less relevance these days, as the nets have been stunting more often and holding back some premieres for various reasons; weeks two and three are often a better barometer. This week will see the bow of vet faves like "Amazing Race" on CBS and "Smallville" on the WB, as well as some series premieres including ABC's "Commander in Chief."
NBC's "Earl" (6.6/16 in 18-49, 15.25m) and UPN's "Chris" (3.2/9, 8.02m) were the standouts among new shows to premiere last week, and CBS also looked good Friday with "Ghost Whisperer" (3.0/10, 11.25m).
Solid openers were NBC's "Surface," ABC's "Invasion" and CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" and "Criminal Minds" (in a special Thursday preview), while NBC's "Three Wishes" was OK on Friday.
Shows needing to improve after sluggish starts are NBC's "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart," "E-Ring" and "Inconceivable"; Fox's "Kitchen Confidential"; and the WB's "Just Legal."
Season's first casualty was Fox drama "Head Cases," which got the ax last week after a poor second outing.
ABC was a year-to-year gainer thanks to its big preems, with "Lost" the most impressive (Daily Variety, Sept. 23) -- logging the biggest 18-49 score for a premiering Wednesday series on any net in 12 years (10.2/25). Net bows its Tuesday and Thursday dramas this week.
Notable for CBS were a strong third-season bow for "NCIS" (3.8/11 in 18-49, 15.48m) and good sampling for "Criminal Minds" (6.5/17, 19.57m), which topped NBC's "ER" (6.4/16, 14.37m) and moves to its regular timeslot tonight.
It was an up but mostly down week for NBC, which started out well on Monday and Tuesday but then drooped on Wednesday and Thursday when both versions of "The Apprentice" opened softly.
Fox remained in fourth but improved upon its weak perf of a year ago by airing more original scripted series. Sunday's "The Simpsons" led the way (5.1/13, 10.46m).
UPN benefited not only from the big bow of "Everybody Hates Chris" (Daily Variety, Sept. 19) but also from three hours of "America's Next Top Model." Net climbed to within half a ratings point of Fox and NBC for the week's women 18-34 lead.
Key launches for UPN this week are new Tuesday drama "Sex, Lies and Secrets" and second-year drama "Veronica Mars" on Wednesday.
The WB was solid Tuesday with "Gilmore Girls" and the new "Supernatural," and it is counting on its vet dramas "Smallville" and "Everwood" to bolster Thursday. Monday's "Just Legal" looks weak, though, and Friday's comedies dropped off after good week-earlier preems.
ESPN, paced by "Sunday Night Football" (4.3/11, 9.75m), led the ad-supported cable nets for the week in adults 18-49, with USA, TNT and TBS in a tight battle for second. Top entertainment series was FX's "Nip/Tuck" in its strong season premiere (2.8/8 in 18-49, 5.29m), ranking 47th among all primetime programs for the week in 18-49.
Over at HBO, the fifth-season opener for "Curb Your Enthusiasm" bowed to 1.55 million viewers. That's down from January 2004's fourth-season preem (3.3 million), but that telecast followed a new seg of "Sex and the City." At 10:30, Ricky Gervais' new laffer "Extras" drew 988,000 viewers -- off 36% from "Curb."
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Even a less-than-stellar perf from "Monday Night Football" (5.5/14 in 18-49, 13.59m) kept ABC atop the 18-49 leader board on the second Monday of the season, Sept. 26, with CBS leading the way in total viewers.
Eye held up well compared with premiere week in the opening hour, with "King of Queens" (3.5/10 in adults 18-49, 10.65m) and "How I Met Your Mother" (3.5/9, 10.40m) both winning their timeslots. Net then fell behind football in demos from 9 to 10 with "Two and a Half Men" (4.8/11 in 18-49, 14.37m) and "Out of Practice" (3.6/8 in 18-49, 11.51m), the latter slipping to 75% retention.
And at 10, "CSI: Miami" may have been the night's top-rated program (5.7/14 in 18-49, 17.38m), but this was one of its lowest firstrun scores to date. NBC's "Medium" (5.2/13 in 18-49, 13.24m) closed the gap, rising 16% week-to-week.
Also for NBC, new 8 o'clock drama "Surface" (2.9/8 in 18-49, 9.05m) lost nearly one-fourth of its 18-49 aud in week two, while "Las Vegas" was down a bit at 9 (4.1/9 in 18-49, 12.13m) but still edged past Fox's "Prison Break" (4.0/9 in 18-49, 8.55m), which was up week to week.
Fox again didn't do much in the night's opening hour with laffers "Arrested Development" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 4.02m) and "Kitchen Confidential" (1.7/4 in 18-49, 3.70m), although the former maintained its week-earlier demo score while placing first in its slot among adults 18-34 (2.4/8).
