The season premiere of "Glee" grabbed the night's top ratings Thursday night, helping to push Fox to a ratings win for the night, according to preliminary numbers.
Fox drew first place in the 18-49 demographic most important to advertisers with a 3.2 rating/9 share and second in total viewers with 8.2 million. The network scored the top two ratings spots of the night, starting with "The X Factor" at 8 p.m., which took second place in ratings with a 3.2/10 — down a bit from the 3.4/10 it drew with Wednesday night's season premiere — and attracted 8.4 million total viewers. The season premiere of "Glee" the following hour grabbed the No. 1 slot in the demo with a 3.3/9 — down from last season's premiere, which posted a 4.0/11 — and took 8 million total viewers.
NBC grabbed second place in ratings and first in total viewers with a 2.0/6 and 9 million. Facing competition from "The X Factor" and a rare Thursday night original airing due to a scheduling shift, the "America's Got Talent" season finale at 8 posted a 2.4/7 — down 33 percent from last season's finale — and drew 10.5 million total viewers, making it the night's most-watched program. "Rock Center With Brian Williams" at 10 premiered its season to a 1.4/4 and received 6 million total viewers.
CBS came in third in ratings and total viewers with a 1.6/5 and 5.8 million. The network aired repeats throughout the night, aside from "Big Brother" at 9 which fell 13 percent from last week to a 2.0/5 and took 5.8 million total viewers.
Univision took fourth in ratings and total viewers with a 1.5/4 and 3/6 million.
ABC, in fifth place with ratings and total viewers with a 0.8/2 and 2.9 million, aired "Wipeout" at 8, which was down 21 percent from last week with a 1.1/4 and took 3.6 million total viewers. Repeats filled out the rest of the network's primetime slate.
