The ratings are in, and they're not great.
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Fast National ratings for Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2004
The first round of the "CSI: NY" vs. "Law & Order" battle went to CBS Wednesday night, although not by a knockout. Elsewhere, "Lost" opened big for ABC.
CBS led the night with a 10.0 rating/16 share, beating NBC's 9.4/15. ABC was a solid third at 7.9/13. There was a pretty steep dropoff to fourth-place FOX, 3.4/5. The WB averaged 3.1/5 and UPN 2.3/4.
The Eye network also led among adults 18-49 with a 5.4 rating. ABC and NBC tied for second at 4.7. FOX's 2.4 was good for fourth, beating The WB, 2.3, and UPN, 1.4.
ABC's new drama "Lost" premiered to a surprisingly strong 11.6/19, dominating the 8 p.m. hour. A prime-time "Dr. Phil" special on CBS was second at 7.9/13, while NBC's "Hawaii" took third. The season premiere of "Smallville," 3.5/6, put The WB in fourth. "That '70s Show" and "Quintuplets" averaged 3.3/6 for FOX. "America's Next Top Model" opened its season on UPN with a 2.7/5.
The first of two hours of "Law & Order," 12.2/19, gave NBC the lead at 9 p.m. "Dr. Phil" improved to 10.1/16 for CBS. ABC dropped to third with the return of "The Bachelor," 6.2/9. Two episodes of "The Bernie Mac Show" moved FOX up to fourth. "The Mountain" debuted to a 2.6/4 on The WB, while UPN's "Veronica Mars" managed only a 1.8/3 in its premiere.
At 10 p.m., the premiere of "CSI: NY" averaged 12.1/20 for CBS, beating NBC's second "Law & Order," 10.7/17. "The Bachelor" came in at 5.8/10 for ABC.
My hope is that UPN likes it enough to keep around for a while despite the low numbers, and take this as a wake-up call to actually start, you know, promoting the show. It's a zany idea, but it seems to have worked for other networks in the past.
In the meantime, if you haven't expounded upon the wonderfulness of Veronica Mars in your journal, do so now! Point out that the pilot is being re-aired on Friday and Sunday, so those who haven't watched yet can catch up.