• by Wayne Friedman , January 3, 2012

The first weekday of the new year didn't stir TV viewers' interest much.

ABC's season premiere of "The Bachelor" drew a Nielsen preliminary 2.4 rating/6 share among adult 18-49 viewers -- down 17% from last season's January premiere.

CBS won the night with a 3.7 rating/9 share among 18-49 viewers -- but many of its shows fell from their most recent original airings.

"How I Met Your Mother" dropped 13% to a season-low 3.9/9 at 8 p.m. "Two and a Half Men," at 9 p.m. lost 6% -- scoring a still-high 4.4/10, but well off its euphoric 5 to 6 ratings of last fall. "Mike & Molly" slipped 5% to a 3.8/9.

But CBS continued to see strong results from its rookie show "2 Broke Girls" -- rising slightly to a 4.3/10 at 8:30 p.m. "Hawaii Five-0" was also up a bit to a 2.9/6 to win the 10 p.m. time period.

ABC came in second to CBS at a 2.4/6. Following "The Bachelor," a new season of "Celebrity Wife Swap" also pulled in a decent 2.4/6 -- a half rating point behind "Five-0."

NBC delivered fresh, original programming -- but it still ended up well behind the others, at a 1.7/4.

Game show "Who's Still Standing?" stayed the same with a 1.5/3; "Fear Factor" was up slightly, to a 2.4/5 -- the network's best earner of the night. "Rock Center With Brian Williams" gained 50%, rising one rating mark to 1.2/3.

Fox and CW were in repeats -- at a 1.2/3 and a 0.3/1, respectively. Univision did better than both, with a 1.6/4.

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