Ratings: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Improves With AJ McLean Elimination

“Dancing With the Stars” (but maybe not eliminated celebrity AJ McLean of The Backstreet Boys) had a much better Monday this week than last, but hold your horses on declaring ABC the primetime winner last night. With “Monday Night Football” airing on ABC in the big Boston market, it is likely that the channel’s initial Nielsen numbers are artificially inflated. Considering how close NBC is to the Disney-owned broadcast network, last night’s Nielsen race is too close to call for now. (Sound familiar these days? This one won’t take four or five days to sort out)

For now, ABC was first in ratings with a 0.9 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 5.92 million, according to preliminary numbers. “DWTS” from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. averaged a 1.0/6 and 6.3 million viewers. “The Good Doctor” at 10 had a 0.7/5 and 5.2 million viewers.

NBC was second in ratings with a 0.8/5 and in viewers with 5.86 million. “The Voice” from 8 to 10 averaged a 1.0/6 and 7.1 million viewers. “The Weakest Link” at 10 got a 0.5/3 and 3.4 million viewers.

CBS, Fox and Univision tied for third in ratings, each with a 0.3/2. CBS was third in total viewers with 2.5 million, Fox was fourth with 1.4 million and Univision was fifth with 1.1 million.

CBS aired all reruns last night. For Fox, “L.A.’s Finest” at 8 had a 0.3/2 and 1.6 million viewers. At 9, “Filthy Rich” got a 0.2/1 and 1.1 million viewers.

The CW and Telemundo tied for sixth in ratings, both with a 0.2/1. The CW was sixth in total viewers with 892,000 and Telemundo was seventh with 858,000.

The CW aired all repeats in primetime.