"The Big Bang Theory" took the night's top numbers Thursday night and helped propel CBS to an overall win, while "30 Rock" returned to a big decline with its season premiere, according to preliminary numbers.
While local NFL preemption skewed the network's numbers, CBS took a commanding first place in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic with a 3.3 rating/10 share and in total viewers with 13.3 million. While down marginally from last week's premiere, "The Big Bang Theory" at 8 was the best-rated and most-watched show of the night with a 4.9/16 and 15.4 million. "Two and a Half Men" at 8:30 inched up from last week's premiere for a 3.7/11 and drew 12.7 million total viewers. "Person of Interest" at 9 also improved slightly, posting a 3.1/8 and attracting 14.6 million total viewers. The network's new Sherlock Holmes drama "Elementary" the following hour slipped 16 percent from last week's series premiere, drawing a 2.6/7 and pulling in 11.2 million total viewers.
Fox grabbed second place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 2.9/8 and 7.7 million. "The X Factor" at 8 remained steady, pulling a 3.1/10 and drawing 9.1 million total viewers. "Glee" the following hour posted a slight increase from last week with a 2.6/7 and had 6.2 million total viewers.
ABC came in third in ratings and second in total viewers with a 2.5/7 and 8.4 million. The new drama "The Last Resort" at 8 fell 18 percent from last week's premiere, scoring a 1.8/6 and drawing 7.9 million total viewers, while "Grey's Anatomy" the following hour also fell off from last week's season premiere, dropping 16 percent to a 3.7/10 and grabbing 10.6 million total viewers. "Scandal" at 10 remained steady with last week's premiere with a 2.1/6 and 6.8 million total viewers.
NBC drew fourth place in ratings and total viewers with a 1.5/4 and 3.5 million. The "30 Rock" season premiere at 8 posted a 1.3/4 — down 28 percent from last January's premiere, and a premiere low for the series. (It was also down 24 percent from last fall's season premiere of "Community" in the same time slot.) "30 Rock" drew 3.4 million total viewers. "Up All Night" at 8:30 was even with last week for a 1.4/4 and had 3 million total viewers, while "The Office" at 9 also held steady versus last week with a 2.1/6, and drew 4.1 million total viewers. "Parks and Recreation" at 9:30 was up 19 percent to a 1.9/5 and had 3.5 million total viewers, while "Rock Center With Brian Williams" went up from last week for a still-low 1.1/3. It drew 3.4 million total viewers.
