ABC, CBS top Monday ratings

Viewers still in tune with 'Bachelorette,' 'Men'

By RICK KISSELL

ABC's all-firstrun reality lineup edged out CBS' all-repeat scripted schedule on Monday, with the Eye network's "Two and a Half Men" standing as the night's top show in both demos and total viewers. NBC, meanwhile, continues to be weighed down by "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," which wraps tonight.

ABC's two-hour "The Bachelorette" (2.3 rating/7 share in adults 18-49, 6.8 million viewers overall) was in line with its performance of the previous week, placing first among adults 18-49 in three of its four half-hours. "Here Comes the Newlyweds" continues to fall off from there, pulling in a 1.5/4 in 18-49 and 4.1 million viewers overall during the 10 o'clock hour.

At CBS, the 9 o'clock hour's repeat comedy combo of "Two and a Half Men" (2.5/7 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall) and "The Big Bang Theory" (2.3/6 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall) continues to shine, and an encore of "CSI: Miami" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 7.9 million viewers overall) beat out firstrun programming on ABC and NBC. In the opening hour, "How I Met Your Mother" slid into its new timeslot at 8 p.m. (1.5/5 in 18-49, 4.9 million viewers overall), followed by the summer time-period premiere of "Rules of Engagement" (1.5/5 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall).

The Peacock net's "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" (1.6/5 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall) had another lackluster showing, placing third in most categories, and newsmag "Dateline" put up similar numbers with its edition at 10 p.m. (1.4/4 in 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall).

Fox was competitive at 8 p.m. with a repeat "House" (1.6/5 in 18-49, 4.9 million viewers overall) and then dropped some at 9 with "Lie to Me" (1.2/3 in 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 2.0/6; CBS, 1.9/6; NBC, 1.5/4; Univision, 1.5/4; Fox, 1.4/4; CW, 0.3/1.   

In total viewers: CBS, 6.9 million; ABC, 5.9 million; NBC, 4.6 million; Fox, 4.4 million; Univision, 3.8 million; CW, 0.9 million.