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LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - For much of the summer, NBC's "ER" was a big story for all of the wrong reasons. The venerable, Emmy-winning medical drama wasn't just losing to CBS' "Without a Trace" on Thursday nights, it was getting crushed. Word on the television beat was that "ER" was on its way out. Well, meet the new Thursday night 10 p.m. ET boss, same as the old boss. Rumors of the demise of "ER" seem to have been at least a little bit exaggerated. The Thursday night (Sept. 25) premiere of the show's 10th season trounced the sophomore debut of "Without a Trace." "ER" drew 23.2 million viewers overall, while "Without a Trace" was well back with nearly 16.7 million. Among adults 18-49, "ER" beat "Without a Trace" by 88 percent. The medical drama, unveiling a brand new supporting cast including "Bend it Like Beckham" star Parminder Nagra, doubled up "Without a Trace" among adults 18-34 (overall and both genders) and among women 18-49. After the dire predictions of June, July and August, NBC was pleased with the show's return to form.. NBC was also content with the expected comfortable demographic wins for "Friends" and "Will & Grace" in their series premieres. While "Coupling" dropped behind the premiere of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" in its first airing, it still ranked second in most demos and won among adults 18-34 and women 18-34. Meanwhile, over at CBS, despite the daunting margin of defeat at 10 p.m., the news seemed entirely positive (if you ask the network's publicists, at least). As far as CBS is concerned, the "ER" premiere was its lowest rated launch in households, demographics and total viewers since the show began. Last year at this time, "Without a Trace" trailed "ER" by 10.5 million viewers, a differential that was cut to 6.5 million on Thursday. After falling behind "ER" by 7.4 ratings points among adults 18-49 a year ago, "Without a Trace" is now within 5 ratings points. CBS could also continue to trumpet the performance of "CSI," which was the night's most watched and highest rated program and will likely hold the top spot for the week as well. "CSI" won its hour in households (17.2/26), viewers (26.91m), adults 18-49 (9.7/24) and adults 25-54 (12.1/27). No doubt Thursday night will continue to be an evening to watch as the season progresses. |
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