ABC's 'Dating' finds primetime love

'Men,' 'Big Bang' remain CBS standouts

By RICK KISSELL

It hasn't been a good summer for new unscripted series, but ABC got off to a solid start on Monday with "Dating in the Dark," which took advantage of its potent lead-in from "The Bachelorette." The Alphabet network won the night in key demos, with CBS -- and its all-repeat lineup -- the only other network to make any noise.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "Dating in the Dark" averaged a 2.5 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 and 6.3 million viewers overall -- winning the 10 o'clock hour in key demos and rising about 30% above the 18-49 score in the timeslot one week earlier for the finale of "Here Come the Newlyweds." Earlier in the evening, "The Bachelorette" continued to put up good numbers (2.7/8 in 18-49, 8.0 million viewers overall), prevailing among young adults from 8 to 10 p.m. with the franchise's "The Men Tell All" special leading into next week's finale.

At CBS, the combo of "How I Met Your Mother" (1.7/6 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) and "Rules of Engagement" (1.8/6 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) continue to perform OK, but the net's repeat comedy standouts remain "Two and a Half Men" (2.8/8 in 18-49, 9.2 million viewers overall) and "The Big Bang Theory" (2.8/8 in 18-49, 8.7 million viewers overall); in a good sign for the fall, "Big Bang" has been holding on to all of its demo lead-in from "Men" in recent weeks. And closing things out was an encore of "CSI: Miami" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 8.4 million viewers overall), which ran second in demos and first in total viewers, helping the net eke out a victory in overall audience on the night.

Fox and NBC remain non-factors on Monday, with the former led by a repeat "House" at 8 o'clock (1.4/5 in 18-49, 4.5 million viewers overall). At the Peacock net, new series "The Wanted" (0.8/2 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall) didn't apprehend many viewers in the 10 o'clock hour, although it didn't get a lot of support from its repeat "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" lead-in (1.0/3 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 2.6/8; CBS, 2.2/7; Univision, 1.4/4; Fox, 1.3/4; NBC, 0.9/3; CW, 0.3/1.

In total viewers: CBS, 7.5 million; ABC, 7.4 million; Fox, 4.1 million; NBC, 3.6 million; Univision, 3.3 million; CW, 0.7 million.