Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" had its most-watched season premiere in four years Thursday night on an evening loaded with repeats, according to preliminary numbers.
The two-hour "Dance" season 8 premiere on Fox grabbed a 3.2 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, a 7 percent jump from last year's season opener, and drew 9.1 million total viewers — 11 percent more than it did last year. This marked a high point in the last four years (and five cycles for the competition) in total viewership, and the highest rating in three years (representing four cycles for the series).
Of course, it helped that there was an absolute lack of competition in terms of new programming, as the other networks opted for previously aired material. CBS grabbed the second-highest ratings of the evening with a repeat of "The Big Bang Theory" at 8, which took a 2.1/7 in the demo and 8.1 million total viewers. A "Rules of Engagement" rerun at 8:30 received a 1.8/6 in the demo and 6.7 million total viewers, while "CSI" at 9 grabbed a 1.4/4 in the demo and 7.7 million total viewers. A repeat of "The Mentalist" closed out the evening at 10 with a 1.5/4 in the demo and 9 million total viewers.
At ABC., a "Wipeout' repeat at 8 took a 1.4/5 in the demo and 5 million total viewers, while "Rookie Blue" the following hour received a 0.9/3 in the demo and 3.8 million total viewers. A follow-up repeat of the series at 10 performed nearly identically in the demo, grabbing a 0.9/2 and 3.3 million total viewers.
NBC's evening began with a "Community" repeat at 8 (0.8/3 in the demo, 2.8 million total viewers), followed by "30 Rock" at 8:30 (0.8/3 in the demo, 2.3 million total viewers). "The Office" at 9 had a 1.2/3 in the demo and 2.7 million total viewers, and "Parks and Recreation" at 9:30 received a 1.0/3 in the demo and 2.7 million total viewers. The evening was rounded out by "30 Rock" at 10 (1.0/3 in the demo, 2.2 million total viewers) and "The Office" at 10:30 (0.9/3 in the demo, 2 million total viewers).
