TV Ratings: 'Big Bang Theory,' 'Men' carry CBS Monday

ABC's 'The Bachelor' and FOX's 'House' are also strong

By Daniel Fienberg Tuesday, Feb 9, 2010 11:36 AM

Neil Patrick Harris of 'How I Met Your Mother'

Credit: CBS

Fast National ratings for Monday, February 8, 2010.

A big night for 9 p.m. comedies "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" helped CBS to a tight victory on Monday night, holding off FOX and ABC.

Among adults 18-49, CBS won with a 4.4 rating, nipping the 4.2 rating for FOX and just topping ABC's 3.6 rating in the key demographic. NBC was a distant fourth with a 1.8 rating, leaving The CW in fifth with a 1.0 rating.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 13.34 million viewers to go with an 8.2 rating/13 share. ABC's 7.3/11 was second, beating the 6.9/10 for FOX, though FOX averaged more total viewers for the night. NBC was fourth with a 3.1/5, beating the 1.4/2 for The CW.

FOX started the night in first with a 7.9/12 for "House," which also averaged a 5.1 demo rating. ABC's "The Bachelor" was second with a 7.5/11. CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" and "Accidentally on Purpose" averaged a 5.9/9 for third. NBC's "Chuck" was fourth with a 3.9/6 and a 2.2 rating, both down very very slightly. The CW's "One Tree Hill" was fifth.

CBS moved into first at 9 p.m. with "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" averaging a robust 10.1/15 and a 5.8 demo rating, with "Two and a Half Men" averaging 17.56 million viewers for the night's biggest audience and "Big Bang Theory" doing a 6.0 demo rating, also the night's best. ABC's "The Bachelor" was up to an 8.3/12 in its second hour. FOX's "24" finished third for the hour and actually improved slightly on last week's totals. On NBC, the season (series?) finale of "Heroes" had a 2.8/4, pulling in under 4.41 million viewers, with a 2.0 demo rating. The CW's "Life Unexpected" did a 1.3/2 for fifth.

"CSI: Miami" had an 8.7/14 and a 3.9 demo rating to give CBS a pair of 10 p.m. wins. ABC's "Castle" had a 6.1/0 for second. That left NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" in third.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.