
The CW finally drew
some rich ratings blood this season -- scoring the highest-ever series debut for the 4-year-old network with "The Vampire Diaries."
"Diaries" at 8 p.m. pulled in Nielsen preliminary 4.84
million viewers topping last season's "90210" debut. The show also scored well in its core women 18-34 viewers, with a 3.0 rating/10 share. The debut was also its best results among adults 18-34
(2.2/8), adults 18-49 (2.1/6) and viewers (4.84 million) since Oct. 2007.
"Diaries" was better news to the recent ho-hum debut of "Melrose Place" earlier in the week. "Diaries" helped CW move
into third place on Thursday among 18-49 viewers -- a 1.8/5 -- and into second place behind NBC among 18-34 viewers with a 1.9/6.
CW didn't get the same boost from its season premiere of
"Supernatural." It took in a 1.5/4 among 18-34 viewers, down from a 1.6/5 a year ago. But it improved 6% in women 18-34 over its premiere last year to a 1.7/5.
advertisement
advertisement
The overall winner on the night
went to NBC with expected big viewership from the first NFL game of the season -- a Thursday version of its "Sunday Night Football." The game featured the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers vs.
Tennessee Titans, with the Steelers winning. Viewership grew from the network's first season's game of a year ago to a 7.0/20 share among 18-49 viewers. NBC's pregame "NFL Kickoff" took in a healthy
4.5 rating among 18-49 viewers.
The only other show of note, CBS' "Big Brother," pulled in a 2.6 for adults 18-49, and a 2.2 rating for adults 18-34 -- down one-tenth of point in both
categories from the previous week.
Among 18-49 viewers, NBC averaged a 7.0/20 for the night; CBS was at a 1.9/5; CW, a 1.8/5; Univision, a 1.5/4; and ABC and Fox tied with a 1.2/3.