• by Wayne Friedman , October 13, 2006

More suffering--some would say failure--for new network shows on Wednesday.

In the face of a strong night where the network's stalwart shows showed their strength, ABC's "The Nine" and NBC's new sitcoms, "30 Rock" and "Twenty Good Years," were not entirely good enough for viewers. Facing competition from ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" in the 8 p.m. hour, both "30 Rock" and "Twenty Good Years" couldn't make it into the 3.0 rating range among 18-49 viewers--"Rock" did a 2.9, and "Twenty" took in a 2.5. NBC says these numbers are still better than last year's "E-Ring" performance.

"The Nine"--against some equally tough competition from CBS' "CSI: NY"--barely got into the 3.0 rating range, scoring a 3.1. It sank a big-time 30 percent from its 4.6 rating premiere a week ago--as well as losing 42 percent of its nice "Lost" 6.9 ratings lead-in audience. Still, with "Stars" and "Lost" on its back, ABC won the night among 18-49 viewers, with a 4.9 rating and 13 share.

CBS was next with a 4.6/12. Its highlight was "CSI: NY" dominating the 10 p.m. time period with a big size 6.0 rating. At 9 p.m., "Criminal Minds" came in second to "Lost," with a 4.5 number. CBS crows in the race for overall average viewers that things were much closer--16.9 million for "Lost" and 16.7 million for "Minds." NBC was a distant third at 9 p.m. with a 3.0 for "Biggest Loser."

Fox came in at third place for the night, with the Detroit Tigers-Oakland Athletics ALCS game at a 3.2/9 and a 3.1/9 for the evening overall. It came in just ahead of NBC for the night, which took in a 2.9/8. The CW was next, toasting its Wednesday with another strong "America's Next Top Model," which brought in a 2.7/8 in adults 18-49--but more importantly, won the 8 p.m. hour in adults 18-34 with a 3.4/11. Univision came in at fifth place for the night, with a 1.6/4.