'Jungle' OK in bow Thursday

Networks have a ho-hum ratings night

By RICK KISSELL

Despite a fair amount of new programming, there weren't a lot of ratings fireworks Thursday night: NBC's fashion-focused drama "Lipstick Jungle" opened to acceptable ratings, ABC newcomer "Eli Stone" dropped off some in its first airing since its premiere, and CBS launched a new season of "Survivor" to winning, but nothing-special, results.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, ABC's "Lost" was the top draw of the night, averaging roughly a 6.5 rating/16 share in adults 18-49 and 15.2 million viewers overall from 9 to 10:03 p.m., just a bit below its season premiere scores of the previous week. It was a tight demo battle for second place, with NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" (3.2/8 in 18-49, 8.7 million viewers overall) edging ahead of CBS repeat drama "CSI" (3.1/8 in 18-49, 11.9 million viewers overall) and Fox's unscripted series "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (3.1/8 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall).

Kicking off the night, "Survivor: Micronesia" (4.7/13 share in adults 18-49, 13.9 million viewers overall) dominated its timeslot, which included competing unscripted entries "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" on Fox (2.7/7 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall) and "Deal or No Deal" on NBC (2.6/7 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall). Further back were ABC's repeat of "Lost" (2.2/6 in 18-49, 6.5 million viewers overall) and CW's "Smallville" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall), with the latter up week to week.

ABC won the 10 o'clock hour with "Eli Stone" (roughly 3.4/9 in 18-49, 9.0 million viewers overall from 10:03 to 11 p.m.), which will come in down somewhere in the 10%-15% range from its premiere, while NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" (2.9/8 in 18-49, 7.5 million viewers overall) placed second in demos; "Lipstick" retained most of its lead-in from "The Apprentice" and mostly held its audience from its first half-hour to its second.

CBS ran third in demos and first in total viewers at 10 with a repeat of "Without a Trace" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 10.2 million viewers overall). on Thursday, delivering a second-place demo finish

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 4.1/11; CBS, 3.5/9; NBC and Fox, 2.9/8; Univision, 1.8/5; CW, 1.4/4.

In total viewers: CBS, 12.0 million; CBS, 10.3 million; Fox, 9.0 million; NBC, 8.5 million; Univision, 4.0 million; CW, 3.3 million.