TV Ratings: 'Blue Bloods' leads CBS Friday win, 'Fringe' rises from May

Fast National ratings for Friday, September 23, 2011.

Same as it ever was, the first Friday of the new TV season was dominated overall by CBS' reliable assortment of procedurals, led by "Blue Bloods," while the network narrowly eked out a victory among young viewers.

Blue Blood TV show

In other ratings news, "Fringe" launched its fourth season with either significantly lower numbers than when it first launched on Fridays last spring or slightly higher numbers than when it completed its season in May. Also, The CW's "Nikita" and "Supernatural" both got off to solid-but-unremarkable starts, as did CBS' new drama "A Gifted Man."

Fringe TV show

Let's get down to numbers...

Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 1.7 rating for the night, edging out NBC and FOX's 1.6 rating in the key demographic. ABC was fourth with a 1.0 rating, while The CW averaged a 0.7 rating.

Overall, CBS had a big cushion, averaging 10.61 million viewers and a 6.9 rating/12 share for the night. NBC was a distant second with a 4.0/7 and 5.78 million viewers. ABC's 2.6/4 and 3.78 million and FOX's 2.3/4 and 3.685 million followed. The CW trailed with a 1.2/2 and 1.92 million viewers for the night.

8 p.m. - "A Gifted Man" started primetime in first overall for CBS with 9.31 million viewers, coming in second with a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. Those numbers are higher than "Medium," "Chaos," "The Defenders" and a number of fill-ins drew for CBS in the hour, though not that much higher with young viewers. ABC's repeats of "Modern Family" were second overall with 3.9 million viewers, beating the 3.84 million for FOX's "Kitchen Nightmares," which won the hour with a lackluster 1.6 rating in the key demographic. NBC's repeats of "Up All Night" and "Whitney" averaged 3.13 million viewers. The CW's "Nikita" averaged 1.88 million viewers and a 0.6 rating in its Friday premiere, retaining almost all of the audience that watched its first season finale on Thursday.

9 p.m. - CBS stayed in first for the 10 p.m. hour with 10.665 million viewers for "CSI: NY," which also won the hour with a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49. That marked improvement over last year's "CSI: NY" premiere in viewers, but a drop in the key demo. NBC moved up to second with 6.39 million viewers for "Dateline," which also did a 1.7 key demo rating. ABC's repeat of "Revenge" averaged 4.13 million viewers in third. FOX's "Fringe" took fourth overall with 3.53 million viewers and third in the key demo with a 1.5 rating. On The CW, "Supernatural" averaged 1.95 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - "Blue Bloods" averaged 11.85 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating for CBS in the 10 p.m. hour, making it the night's top program overall and top scripted program among young viewers. NBC's "Dateline" was second with 7.83 million viewers and won the hour with a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's "20/20" averaged 3.205 million viewers.

Source : http://www.hitfix.com/articles/tv-ratings-blue-bloods-leads-cbs-friday-win-fringe-rises-from-may