ABC was the top broadcast networks in Wednesday's prime time, as the network swept the night for the second straight week in the fledgling fall season.
Lost and Invasion helped ABC average a 6.3 rating/17 share among adults 18-49 in prime time, according to Nielsen fast national data for Sept. 28.
With a new episode at 9 p.m., castaway drama Lost largely maintained the big audience it pulled in for last week's second-season premiere. The show posted a 9.4/23, down six-tenths of a rating point from its big Sept. 21 kickoff (10.0/24).
The second outing of ABC's spooky new drama, Invasion, won the 10 o'clock hour, beating two seasoned shows: a new episode of veteran Law & Order (4.9/13) and CBS premiere of CSI: NY (4.3/11). However, the Shaun Cassidy-created Invasion did experience a drop off: a 5.3/14, down from 7.1/18 last week.
A repeat of Lost’s premiere (4.0/12) beat Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance (2.8/9) and CBS’ Still Standing (2.6). The Lost rerun trounced NBC’s much-talked-about, little-watched The Apprentice: Martha Stewart (2.0/6), which could not top America’s Next Top Model (2.1/6).
UPN’s Veronica Mars was the only other show to premiere last night. It posted a 1.3/3 in the same 9 p.m. slot that carried the new episode of Lost. Mars is a favorite among some TV critics and received extra exposure this summer when UPN’s big sister network, CBS, reran several episodes of the teen-investigator drama on its prime time schedule.
CBS finished second on Wednesday night, averaging 3.5/9 in prime. In addition to CSI: NY, the network aired Still Standing (2.6/8) at 8 p.m.; Yes, Dear (2.8/8) at 8:30; and freshman series Criminal Minds (3.3/8) at 9.
NBC barely held off Fox for third place, averaging 3.0/8 for the night. Fox finished at a 2.8/7.
UPN was in fifth place at 1.7/5 and The WB (.7/2) finished last.
