• by Wayne Friedman , October 1, 2007

CBS might have showed chinks in the armor early in its season opening week. But last Thursday, it erased any doubt that it has plenty of firepower by winning the night--beating ABC, which dominated the night for virtually all of last season.

The key ingredient for CBS was moving back "Without a Trace" to its Thursday night 10 p.m. time slot--which instantly did better than last season's "Shark" in the same time slot.

The 4.7 rating/13 share among 18-49 viewers, a Nielsen live plus same day program number, won the time period for "Trace"--edging out a competitive new ABC drama "Big Shots," which pulled in a nice 4.5/12 number.

For the night, CBS eked out a 5.9/15, just ahead of ABC's 5.8/15.

ABC showed some strong numbers--especially for "Grey's Anatomy," which was some 10% higher than last year's premiere numbers, and so far, the highest premiere on any network among 18-49 viewers. ABC also touted that the 4.5 rating for "Big Shots" was the third-highest new series debut behind NBC's "Bionic Woman" and ABC's "Private Practice."

NBC lost some steam on the night with "ER" moving lower--coming in at third place at a 4.1/11 rating against "Trace" and "Shots." Last season, "ER" had a revival of sorts, because of CBS moving out "Trace" to Sunday night. But now with "Trace" back on Thursdays, viewers have given CBS back its edge in the time period.

Still, NBC had plenty to cheer about with "The Office," getting to a 5.1/12 on the night and holding its own against the two heavyweights in the 9 p.m. time period: "Grey's," which grabbed a powerful night-leading 8.8/21, and CBS' "CSI," which also took a nearly as strong 8.2/19.

Despite this, "The Office" tied its series high. It was the third-highest program of the night. NBC finished the night with a 4.3/11.

Those underperforming shows included ABC's "Ugly Betty" with a 3.9/11 at 8 p.m.--somewhat less than its strong 4.0 rating performances of a year ago--and Fox's two summer reality shows "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" and "Don't Forget the Lyrics," which posted a 2.1/6 and a 1.8/4, respectively. Fox finished well behind in fourth place, at a 1.9/5.

Univision was next with a 1.7/4, with its best coming from a 2.1 rating among 18-49 viewers for "Destilando Amor." CW's premiere of "Smallville" put it at a 1.9/6 and a repeat of its new series "Reaper" made out with a 1.0/2. CW averaged a 1.5/4 on the night.