YATTAAAAAAAAAH!

By Toni Fitzgerald
Feb 3, 2009


With the return of NBC’s regular lineup, Monday nights have gotten a lot more competitive, but Fox managed to stay on top for the third straight week, just ahead of fall leader CBS.

Fox averaged a 4.6 adults 18-49 rating and 11 share, according to Nielsen overnights, with CBS placing second at 4.3/10. ABC was a not-too-distant third at 3.7/9, thanks to a surging “The Bachelor,” and NBC was fourth at 3.3/8, with ABC and NBC both up over last week. Univision placed fifth at 1.9/5 and the CW sixth at 1.2/3.

Fox maintained its nightly lead despite both its dramas, “House” and “24,” dropping a bit from last week, when “House” hit a season-high 5.9 and “24” averaged a 4.2. Last night, “House” slipped to 5.5 and “24” dipped to a 3.7.

The shows were likely hurt by the return of NBC’s scripted lineup, which had been replaced by low-rated unscripted fare and specials the past six weeks.

At 8 p.m., the much-hyped 3D episode of “Chuck” averaged a 3.0, a season high and up 20 percent over its season average of 2.5.

At 9 p.m., “Heroes” averaged a 3.9, its best rating since October and finishing just ahead of “24” in the timeslot.

But perhaps the most surprising numbers came again from ABC’s “The Bachelor,” in the midst of its best season since 2006. The show averaged a 4.1 rating from 8 to 10 p.m. and tied for first in the 9 p.m. slot, apparently benefitting in its final half hour from some CBS switchover.

After “Two and a Half Men” ended at 9:30, “Bachelor’s” rating shot up 18 percent to a 4.6, while CBS slumped from a 5.5 for “Men” to a 3.1 for “Worst Week.”

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Twenty-eight percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 5.5 for “House,” with CBS second with a 4.2 for “The Big Bang Theory” (4.1) and “How I Met Your Mother” (4.2). ABC was third with a 3.8 for “The Bachelor,” NBC fourth with a 3.0 for “Chuck,” Univision fifth with a 2.0 for “Cuidado con el Angel” and CW sixth with a 1.1 for “Gossip Girl.”

CBS and ABC tied for the lead at 9 p.m., each with a 4.3 rating, CBS for “Men” (5.5) and “Week” (3.1) and ABC for more “Bachelor.” NBC was third with a 3.9 for “Heroes,” Fox fourth with a 3.7 for “24,” Univision fifth with a 2.2 for “Fuego en la Sangre” and CW sixth with a 1.3 for “One Tree Hill.”

At 10 p.m. CBS was first with a 4.4 for “CSI: Miami,” followed by ABC with a 3.0 for “True Beauty.” NBC was third with a 2.9 for the season premiere of “Medium,” which improved the network’s usual timeslot average 26 percent, and Univision fourth with a 1.7 for “Cristina.”

Among households, CBS was first for the night with an 8.3 average overnight rating and a 13 share. Fox was second at 7.7/11, ABC third at 6.1/9, NBC fourth at 5.2/8, Univision fifth at 2.3/4 and CW sixth at 1.7/3.