Primetime Ratings From Thursday 9/17

While Fox won the very competitive night of Thursday September 17th, Survivor: Samoa debuted with 11.5 million viewers making it the highest rated show of the evening. Survivor remains a lucrative show for CBS, though the 19th season premiere was down from last season by over two million viewers.

The season premiere of Fringe drew 8 million viewers which was down slightly from the series premiere, however that was a much hyped two hour event and it is now in a much more competitive time slot so Fox is likely pleased with these results. Its lead-in at 8pm Bones was actually up slightly over last year which the network will be ecstatic about. Not many shows see growth from one season to another.

Going head on against Fringe was NBC’s comedy lineup of The Office and Community. The Office had a good showing with 8.1 million tuning in and was especially strong in the 18-49 demo but definitely felt the impact of Fringe. It was down in overall viewers by 18% compared to last season’s premiere. The really encouraging news for NBC is that the new show Community held 95% of that audience which is a big indication that the show has long term potential.

8 PM
CBS: Survivor (3.5, 11.5 million)
FOX: Bones (3.0, 10.097 million)
NBC: Weekend Update (2.0, 5.7 million)
ABC: Grey’s Anatomy (Repeat) (1.2, 4.309 million )
CW: Vampire Diaries (1.6, 3.8 million)

830 PM
NBC: Parks & Recreation (2.1, 5 million)

9 PM
NBC: The Office (4.0, 8.1 million)
FOX: Fringe (2.9, 7.978 million)
CBS: CSI (Repeat) (2.0, 8.8 million )
ABC: Grey’s Anatomy (Repeat) (1.7, 5.55 million)
CW: Supernatural (1.2, 2.800 million)

930 PM
NBC: Community (3.7, 7.680 million)

10 PM
NBC: The Jay Leno Show (2.7, 8.524 million)
CBS: The Mentalist (Repeat) (1.9, 8.745 million )
ABC: Private Practice (Repeat) (1.0, 3.43 million )