Hefty tune-in for 'Supernatural' debut

[Still Dirrty]

The lack of Thursday night competition, and perhaps the network’s increasing fortunes earlier in the week, helped “Supernatural” to its best-ever numbers on the CW last night.

The show’s fourth-season premiere averaged 4 million total viewers, according to Nielsen overnights, up 33 percent over last year’s premiere and 1.3 million better than the show’s season-long average.

Among the network’s target 18-34s, the show averaged a 1.5, 25 percent better than last year’s premiere and 36 percent better than the show’s season-long 1.1 average. That's still a fairly small number, but "Supernatural" skews older than most of the CW's shows.

The show, which aired its first season on the WB, may have been buoyed by the light competition. Last year “Supernatural” premiered in early October, after the official season had begun and the other networks had their new Thursday night schedules in place.

Last night “Supernatural’s” toughest competition at 9 p.m. was Fox’s “Kitchen Nightmares,” which drew a solid but unspectacular 2.8 among 18-49s to win the hour. Last year during "Supernatural's" premiere, there were shows in the hour averaging more than double that.

“Supernatural” may have gotten a boost from audiences that have been sampling the CW, with “Gossip Girl” hitting a series high earlier in the week and “90210” debuting to record numbers two weeks before.

CW’s nightly leadoff, “Smallville,” performed decently but likely wasn’t responsible for “Supernatural’s” jump. “Smallville” equaled last season’s premiere with a 1.8 among 18-49s.

Fox led the night among 18-49s with a 2.4 average overnight rating and a 7 share. CBS was second at 2.3/7, Univision third at 1.9/6 and ABC, NBC and CW all tied for fourth at 1.8/5.

Univision was first at 8 p.m. with a 2.3 for “Al Diablo con los Guapos,” with Fox second with a 2.0 for “Hole in the Wall.” CBS and NBC tied for third at 1.9, CBS for a repeat of “CSI” and NBC for “America’s Got Talent” (2.3) and a repeat of “My Name is Earl” (1.6), with CW fifth with a 1.8 for “Smallville” and ABC sixth with a 1.3 for an “Ugly Betty” rerun.

At 9 p.m. Fox took the lead with a 2.8 for “Kitchen Nightmares,” followed by CBS with a 2.5 for another hour of “CSI.” NBC was third with a 2.0 for repeats of “The Office,” ABC fourth with a 1.9 for a repeat of “Grey’s Anatomy,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for the first hour of “Latin Grammy Celebra José José” and CW sixth with a 1.7 for “Supernatural.”

CBS took over at 10 p.m. with a series-best 2.6 for “Flashpoint,” while ABC moved to second with a 2.2 for more “Grey’s.” Univision was third with a 1.6 for “José José” and NBC fourth with a 1.5 for a repeat of “ER.”

Among households, CBS was first for the night with a 6.3 average overnight rating and an 11 share. ABC was second at 3.7/6, NBC third at 3.5/6, Fox fourth at 3.4/6, CW sixth at 2.5/4 and Univision sixth at 2.4/4.


http://www.medialifemagazine.com/art...ural_debut.asp