ABC tops mild Monday ratings

NBC's 'Jay Leno Show' hits tough times

By RICK KISSELL

ABC, behind "Dancing With the Stars" and improved scores for drama "Castle," ruled as the top broadcaster in key demos on Monday. It was tough going, meanwhile, for NBC's "The Jay Leno Show," which hit a Monday low even opposite a repeat of CBS' "CSI: Miami."

Overall, numbers were down for the broadcasters as Fox preempted "House" and CBS aired repeats of its strong lineup.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "Dancing With the Stars" averaged a projected 3.8 rating/10 share in adults 18-49 and 17.8 million viewers overall from 8 to 10:02 p.m., standing as the top broadcaster in its time period and growing a bit week to week. It was followed by sophomore drama "Castle" (projected 2.7/7 in 18-49, 10.9 million viewers overall from 10:02 to 11 p.m.), which took advantage of its repeat "CSI: Miami" competition to post some of its best numbers in a while.

(Note that ABC's program averages could come down in the nationals, as the affiliate-based preliminaries include numbers for NFL action on its Philadelphia station, which was carrying ESPN's telecast of "Monday Night Football.")

CBS was a solid No. 2 among the broadcasters Monday, seeing good repeat numbers for "How I Met Your Mother" (2.6/7 in 18-49, 7.1 million viewers overall), "Two and a Half Men" (3.4/8 in 18-49, 11.2 million viewers overall), "The Big Bang Theory" (3.6/9 in 18-49, 10.6 million viewers overall) and "CSI: Miami" (3.1/8 in 18-49, 11.2 million viewers overall). Also for the net, rookie 8:30 p.m. half-hour "Accidentally on Purpose" delivered softer numbers for its first repeat telecast (2.1/5 in 18-49, 6.0 million viewers overall).

Fox, in the midst of its postseason baseball coverage, ran a special edition of "So You Think You Can Dance" (2.6/7 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall), which settled for roughly half of what usual timeslot leader "House" earns in the timeslot. It led into drama "Lie to Me" (2.4/6 in 18-49, 6.3 million viewers overall), which ran third among the major networks.

NBC's "Heroes" (2.5/6 in 18-49, 5.9 million viewers overall) and "Trauma" (1.9/5 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall) were in line with recent performances, while "The Jay Leno Show" (1.3/4 in 18-49, 4.6 million viewers overall) hit a Monday low and matched its weakest demo delivery for any night to date.

At CW, "One Tree Hill" (1.3/3 in 18-49, 2.7 million viewers overall) matched or set numerous season highs, and lead-out "Gossip Girl" (1.2/3, 2.2 million viewers overall) also was up vs. recent outings.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC, 3.4/9; CBS, 3.0/8; Fox, 2.5/6; NBC, 1.9/5; Univision, 1.3/3; CW, 1.2/3.

In total viewers: ABC, 15.5 million; CBS, 9.6 million; Fox, 6.0 million; NBC, 5.4 million; Univision, 3.4 million; CW, 2.5 million.