Primetime Ratings: Viewers Find Season Debut of ABC’s Lost
Lost Wins Thursday Night for ABC, but Debut Pales vs. Premieres of American Idol , Moment of Truth
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/1/2008 7:31:00 AM
ABC's Lost opened with a 6.7 rating/16 share in the 18-49 demo in its new-season debut Thursday night. That was good enough to win the night for ABC (an average 5.3/14), but well below the numbers for January's big premieres for shows like Fox's American Idol and Moment of Truth.
In fact, two of the other four major networks recorded their best ratings of the night with shows that went up against Lost.
Two thirds of that Lost audience stayed around for the debut of ABC's quirky midseason drama, Eli Stone, which won its 10 p.m.-11 p.m. time period easily with a 4.2/11.
Fox was second on the night with a 3.2/8, led by Don't Forget the Lyrics, which averaged a 3.3/8 from 8 p.m.-9 p.m. up against Lost.
NBC was third with a 2.8/7 in the demo. Its best performer was Celebrity Apprentice, which averaged a 3.6/10 for second place at 10 p.m. behind ABC's Eli Stone.
CBS was fourth with a 2.4/7, topped by a repeat of CSI with a 2.8/7, also up against Lost.
The CW was fifth with a 1.4/4 for new episodes of Smallville and Supernatural.
