In the first match-up of the new dramas The Blacklist and Hostages, NBC's The Blacklist reigned supreme, drawing a 3.8 rating with adults 18-49 at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnight numbers, to CBS' Hostages' 1.8 rating.
The James Spader drama didn't equal the 4.1 rating Revolution drew in its premiere last fall, but it did draw a healthy 12.6 million total viewers. The serialized Hostages equaled the year-ago performance of Hawaii Five-0, and averaged 7.5 million viewers.
The Blacklist had the advantage of a stronger lead-in from the fifth season premiere of The Voice, which earned a 4.9 in the demo, up 17% from its year-ago debut. On CBS, the premiere of new Chuck Lorre comedy Mom at 9:30 p.m. averaged a 2.5, down 19% from what Mike & Molly did in the time period last fall, and 7.9 million viewers.
Earlier in the night, the first two episodes of the final season of How I Met Your Mother earned a 3.4, down 6% from last year, increasing to a 3.7 at 8:30 p.m. At 9p.m., the third season debut of 2 Broke Girls fell 24% to a 2.8.
On ABC, the season opener of Castle was up a tenth from last year to a 2.2 rating. Leading into the drama's return, Dancing With the Stars took a hit up against The Voice in its second week, tumbling 26% to a 2.3.
Fox, whose Monday lineup bowed last week, also took anexpected dip, though not as steep as ABC's. The new Sleepy Hollow was down 11% to a still-strong 3.1, while Bones dipped 17% to a 1.9.
The CW aired repeats.
Overall, NBC won the first night of the new season with a
4.6 rating/12 share and 14 million total viewers. CBS came in second in the
demo with a 2.7/7, though it was third in total viewers with 8.3 million, Fox
was third with a 2.5/7 and fourth with 7.6 million viewers, and ABC followed
with a 2.3/6 though it was second in viewers with 12.7 million.
