The series premiere of the Sarah Michelle Gellar drama "Ringer," the first broadcast debut of the new fall season, earned the CW its most-watched Tuesday in two years, pulling in 2.74 million viewers.
Its 1.2 rating/3 share in the 18-49 demo was small by most networks' standards, but respectable for the CW, which targets 18-34 year-old women.
Also read: CW Grows Up With 'Ringer'
The show is an important one for the network as it tries to expand outside that audience with an adult-centered drama, one with a cast slightly older than those of its other shows.
The return of NBC's "Parenthood," meanwhile, had a 2.3/6 and 6.8 million viewers at 10. It was the show's biggest audience in the past year, but it was also the show's lowest-rated season premiere.
NBC won Tuesday night on the strength of its "America's Got Talent" final performance show at 9 p.m., which scored a 3.6/10 and 13.2 million total viewers. At 8, the finale of "It's Worth What?" had a 1.1/4 and 4.7 million total viewers.
ABC, the second-highest rated network for the night, had a 2.0/6 and 6.1 million total viewers for "Wipeout" at 8. The ABC News special "Jackie Kennedy: In Her Own Words, had a 1.5/4 and 8.4 million total viewers at 9.
Fox and CBS ran only repeats.
Airing at 9, "Ringer" earned 68 percent more total viewers than its lead-in, the season premiere of "90210." That show, at 8, had a .8/3 and 1.6 million total viewers.
"Ringer," in which Gellar plays twins in trouble, also had 66 percent more total viewers than last season's premiere of the now-cancelled "Life Unexpected," which held its 9 o'clock Tuesday slot last fall.
Last night was the most-watched Tuesday for the CW since Sept. 8, 2009.
