Television Ratings for the New Fall Season.

The 1st of October, 2009
Source Credits - The Huffington Post/AP
Topic Tags - Television Ratings
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CBS Wins First Week Of TV Season On Strength Of "NCIS"

NEW YORK — CBS began the fall season with a bang, winning the first week overall, scoring the top-rated program and premiering the most-watched new show, according to Nielsen ratings figures released Tuesday.

CBS' veteran hit "NCIS" took the No. 1 spot, with its spinoff, "NCIS: Los Angeles," debuting in the runner-up position. Another new CBS drama, "The Good Wife," got a warm viewer welcome with a 15th-place ranking.

ABC's new Wednesday comedies "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" did well, ranking 20th and 23rd, respectively, while that network's new thriller "FlashForward" nabbed 21st place with its premiere.

Other than football, NBC's top performers were its new hospital drama "Mercy" and long-running cop drama "Law & Order: SVU," which shared 38th place in viewer rankings.

Meanwhile, the infant season claimed its first victim among the new fall crop: The neglected melodrama "The Beautiful Life: TBL" was axed by the CW after just two airings.

For the week in prime time, CBS led with 11.77 million viewers (7.3 household rating, 12 share), with runner-up ABC averaging 11.04 million viewers (7.1 rating, 12 share). NBC was a distant third place with 7.56 million viewers (4.8 rating, 8 share), just ahead of Fox with 7.35 million viewers (4.3 rating, 7 share).