• by Wayne Friedman , July 28, 2009

These days, few if any TV shows can rise to their previous levels. With that in mind, give ABC's "The Bachelorette" some credit this summer.

The two-hour finale of the reality show hit a Nielsen preliminary 3.4 rating/10 share, matching last summer's finale result. Plus, it struck a 3.9 rating/11 share in its 9 p.m. hour, one of the best-performing hourly results for a show this summer.

All this lifted ABC's new reality-relationship show "Dating in the Dark," which posted a nice 2.5/7 in the 10 p.m. hour -- about the same as its premiere rating a week ago.

The only other network to offer fresh programming on the night was NBC with "Great American Road Trip," "The Wanted" and "Dateline NBC" -- which barely registered any pulse, posting a collective 0.8/2 among 18-49 viewers.

NBC landed in a low fifth-place spot, behind all English-language networks and Univision.

ABC easily led the way with a 3.1/9 among 18-49 viewers and an almost equally strong 2.9/10 among the younger 18-34 crowd. Those young results were virtually double that of its nearest competitor.

CBS, with its cost-effective reruns of its comedies in tow, continued to sport good results, coming in at econd place on Monday with a 2.2/6 among 18-49 viewers.

CBS' "Big Bang Theory" -- on the back of a "Two and a Half Men" lead-in -- grabbed a strong 2.7/7, with "Men" earning a 2.6/7.

Fox and Univision were next, tied with a 1.4/4. After NBC's 0.8/2, CW earned a 0.4/1, coming from repeats of "One Tree Hill" and "Gossip Girl."

Here are Monday's ratings and share information for the broadcast networks:

Source: The Nielsen Company