• by David Kaplan , January 4, 2005

The debut of NBC's "Medium," which stars Patricia Arquette as a psychic who can see the dead to help police solve crimes, scored a 6.3/16 in the 18-49 category, scaring up 16.1 million--live--viewers overall, according to Nielsen (not to be confused with the psychic hotline.)

Since we don't have a clairvoyant similar to Arquette's character on staff, it's impossible to predict whether the show will continue to draw such impressive numbers, although an NBC soothsayer (otherwise known as a spokeswoman) noted that "Medium" received NBC's highest 18-49 rating and overall viewer total for a Monday premiere since when the family sitcom "Someone Like Me" debuted on March 14, 1994. This is hardly a favorable comparison, since the latter show, which starred an 11-year-old Gaby Hoffman, was canceled after less than a month. Still, NBC said that "Medium" doubled the network's time-period average this season for 18-49 in ratings (6.3 versus 3.1) and in total viewers (16.1 million versus 7.8 million). Nevertheless, "Medium" finished number two to CBS' "CSI: Miami" in 18-49 (6.3 versus 6.6) and rose to tie "CSI: Miami" from 10:30-11 p.m. (6.6 rating each). Overall, CBS won Monday thanks to "Everybody Loves Raymond," which won its time period in 18-49 with 6.4/15 ratings share, and "Two And A Half Men," which won the 18-49 category with a 6.2/15 ratings share.

CBS also lifted the curtain on the new host of "The Late, Late Show" with Craig Ferguson on Monday. According to CBS' Nielsen analysis, the show improved the time period's season-to-date average by 17 percent in adults 18-34 (0.7/04 vs. 0.6/04).

Over at ABC, its broadcast of the Sugar Bowl championship game received a household rating of 9.9/15, while on FOX, the special "Who's Your Daddy?" averaged a 2.3/6 among adults 18-49, a 2.9/8 in women 18-34, and 6.3 million total viewers.