Ratings report: One week, one hit in the new season

One of the biggest winners in the first officially measured week of the 2009-10 may be ... "Manana Es Para Siempre."

The telenovela's Wednesday-night broadcast on Univision last week drew 6.28 million viewers, making it the 58th most-watched show of the week. What's more notable, though, is the list of shows "Manana" (translation: "Tomorrow Is Forever") beat: The Wednesday show finished ahead of such English-language shows as "Law & Order" (6.25 million), "Fringe" (5.73 million) and three of the five "Jay Leno Show" telecasts.

Farther up the rankings, premiere week brought some pretty good stories for new series -- five of them finished in the top 25 in viewers and in adults 18-49 -- and there is one show that can be called and unqualified hit out of the gate. "NCIS: Los Angeles" finished second overall for the week with 18.73 million viewers (behind only its lead-in and parent show, "NCIS") and tied for 11th in the 18-49 demographic with a 4.4 rating.

On the whole, though, the first week was a mixed bag for the broadcast networks. Here's a quick rundown of the good and bad.

CBS

Bright spots: The "NCIS" duo did huge numbers on Tuesday nights and also helped "The Good Wife" draw 13.71 million viewers (it placed 15th overall). "The Big Bang Theory" hit a record high with 12.96 million viewers in its new time period (a number it surpassed this week), and its 10 p.m. dramas all led their timeslots.

Sore spots: Not too many, although the degree to which the "CSI" premiere was down year over year (16.01 million vs. 23.48 million) isn't pretty. "Cold Case" was down about 2 million viewers compared to last season's premiere, and "Survivor: Samoa" failed to win its Thursday timeslot against regular programming for the first time in five years.

ABC

Bright spots: New shows "Cougar Town" (4.4), "Modern Family" (4.2) and "FlashForward" (4.0) all finished in the top 20 among adults 18-49 and in the top 25 in viewers. "Grey's Anatomy" was No. 6 overall with 17.03 million viewers and tied for second (with "House") in adults 18-49.

Sore spots: "Desperate Housewives" took a big hit from its premiere last season, shedding better than 5 million viewers (13.64 million vs. 18.86 million last year) and more than a third of its 18-49 rating (4.5 vs. 7.1). Despite having less drama competition, none of the network's 10 p.m. shows really broke out; "Castle," "The Forgotten" and "Eastwick" all hovered between 8.5 and 9.5 million viewers.

NBC

Bright spots: "Sunday Night Football" remains huge (17.47 million viewers last week, 21.17 million so far this season), but beyond that you have to look a little bit. "Mercy" (8.38 million) did a little better than expected on Wednesday, and "The Office" remains a solid performer in the demos (3.9 in 18-49, which ranks 21st for the week).

Sore spots: "Heroes" sputtered to a record-low opening with 6.11 million viewers. Even if it retains its status as one of the most-DVR'd shows on TV, it still won't be anywhere near its levels of even a year ago, when it premiered to better than 10 million viewers. "Law & Order: SVU" was also down significantly, and the rest of the Thursday comedies struggled against full competition.

FOX

Bright spots: "House" packed 'em in for its two-hour premiere, with 17.16 million viewers and a 6.7 adults 18-49 rating. "Family Guy" and "The Cleveland Show" both ranked in the top five among adults 18-49, and "Bones" is remarkably steady.

Sore spots: "Fringe" got hammered on Thursday, and the Friday lineup was just dismal: "Brothers" averaged 2.67 million viewers and "Dollhouse" a mere 2.5 million.

The CW

Bright spots: Um, yeah. Let's see here. "The Vampire Diaries" has held its own on Thursdays, drawing 3.8 million viewers last week. And while "Smallville's" Friday numbers are off a good bit from what it did on Thursdays last season, it still improved the night significantly over "Everybody Hates Chris" and "The Game" last year.

Sore spots: The figures for The CW are skewed some because this week last year was the final time The CW had "WWE Friday Night Smackdown" on its schedule. Still, all of the network's returning series were down compared to the same week last year, and the network has the dubious honor of the season's first cancellation in the virtually unwatched "The Beautiful Life."

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