CBS's "NCIS" franchise delivered a victory to the network Tuesday night, as "NCIS" and "NCIS: Los Angeles" took the top two spots in the key demographic and pushed the network to a decisive overall win, according to preliminary numbers.
Meanwhile, new comedy offerings from Fox and NBC — including the former's "The Mindy Project," "Ben and Kate" and the latter's "Go On" and "The New Normal," took ratings hits.
"New Normal" and "Go On" both got full-season orders from the network on Tuesday.
CBS drew a solid first place in both the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic with a 2.9 rating/8 share and in total viewers with 15.1 million total viewers.
Though both "NCIS" and "NCIS: LA" were down slightly from their season premieres last week, they landed at the top of the ratings heap, starting with "NCIS" at 8, which drew a 3.6/11 — the night's best performance in the demo — and received 18.5 million total viewers, making it the night's most-watched program.
"NCIS: LA" the following hour posted a 3.1/8 in the demo and grabbed 15 million total viewers. The network's new drama "Vegas" took a 16 percent hit from last week's debut, dropping to a 2.1/6 and drawing 12 million total viewers.
NBC took second place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 2.2/6 and 6 million. "The Voice," which ran a recap show at 8, dropped 31 percent to a 2.9/9 and drew 8.2 million total viewers. The recap show didn't appear to help any of the network's comedies that followed, all of which suffered declines to some degree.
"Go On" at 9 dropped 19 percent to a 2.2/6 with 6 million total viewers, while "The New Normal" at 9:30 was down 15 percent for a 1.7/5 and took 4.6 million total viewers. "Parenthood" at 10 dipped slightly to a 1.7/5 and drew 4.5 million total viewers.
Fox drew third in ratings and fourth in total viewers with a 2.0/6 and 4 million. The season premiere of "Raising Hope" at 8 dropped from last year's premiere, which aired at 9:30 and benefited from the series premiere of "New Girl" as a lead-in. "Raising Hope" posted a 1.7/5 — even with last season's average — and attracted 3.9 million total viewers.
"Ben and Kate" at 8:30 dropped 24 percent from last week's series premiere with 1.6/5 and had 3.3 million total viewers. "New Girl" at 9 remained even with last week's season premiere for a 2.8/7 and drew 5 million total viewers, while "The Mindy Project" at 9:30 fell 21 percent from last week's series premiere, receiving a 1.9/5 and drawing 3.7 million total viewers.
ABC came in fourth in ratings and second in total viewers with a 1.7/5 and 8.7 million. The special "Dancing With the Stars: Defining Dances" at 8 posted a 1.3/4 and took 8.2 million total viewers, while the "Dancing With the Stars" results show the following hour was even with last week's premiere, taking a 2.1/5 and receiving 11.8 million total viewers.
"Private Practice" at 10 dropped 16 percent from last week's season premiere for a 1.6/4 and drew 6.1 million total viewers.
At the CW, the season premiere of "Hart of Dixie," airing on a new night and time, performed evenly with last season's series premiere in the 18-34 demographic, posting a 0.8/3, and was off slightly in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.7/2. The "Hart of Dixie" premiere drew 1.5 million total viewers.
