On a night when nothing really popped ratings-wise, CBS scored a Tuesday victory in key demos behind "NCIS," the No. 1 program of the night. Meanwhile, the return of Heather Locklear gave only a slight boost to CW's struggling "Melrose Place."
According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, "NCIS" dominated the evening's leadoff hour with a 4.1 rating/11 share in adults 18-49 and 20.2 million viewers overall. The net then fell off from there but remained solid with rookie dramas "NCIS: Los Angeles" (3.4/9 in 18-49, 14.8 million viewers overall) and "The Good Wife" (2.6/8 in 18-49, 12.7 million viewers overall), both of which were on the low side.
In addition to winning the night in the key demos of adults 18-49 and 25-54, CBS also dominated in total viewers, delivering an average audience of roughly 5 million viewers more than runner-up ABC.
At NBC, the premiere of holiday special "Merry Madagascar" produced solid numbers at 8 p.m. (2.9/8 in 18-49, 9.8 million viewers overall), leading into a shortened 90-minute installment of "The Biggest Loser" (3.7/10 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall), which won from 9 to 10 p.m. in 18-49. And closing out the night, "The Jay Leno Show" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 6.1 million viewers overall) was up a tick to match a six-week high.
ABC opened the night with "V" (3.1/8 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall), which dropped some more in its third outing and placed third for the 8 o'clock hour. The net stayed in third, at least in demos, with the "Dancing With the Stars Results" show (projected 3.3/8 in 18-49, 16.1 million viewers overall from 9 to 10:02 p.m.), which led its hour in total viewers, and then fell off sharply with struggling first-year drama "The Forgotten" (1.8/5 in 18-49, 7.2 million viewers overall).
Fox edged up a tick week to week with its two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (2.4/7 in 18-49, 6.0 million viewers overall) but remained in fourth place.
CW's "Melrose Place" (0.8/2 in 18-49, 1.5 million viewers overall) edged up only a tick, although it did log its best women 18-34 score (1.6/4) since early October. Lead-in "90210" (1.1/3 in 18-49, 2.1 million viewers overall) was in line with its recent performances.
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 3.4/9; NBC, 3.0/8; ABC, 2.7/7; Fox, 2.4/7; Univision, 1.5/4; CW, 0.9/3.
In total viewers: CBS, 15.9 million; ABC, 10.9 million; NBC, 8.3 million; Fox, 6.0 million; Univision, 3.8 million; CW, 1.8 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com