TV ratings: Brian Williams' 'Rock Center' starts quietly, others down on Halloween

Fast national ratings for Monday, Oct. 31, 2011

A portion of the nation's TV audience was apparently out celebrating Halloween Monday night, because ratings for a number of shows were below average. "Terra Nova," "Two and a Half Men" and "Dancing With the Stars," among others, were all down from their last airing. The premiere of NBC's newsmagazine "Rock Center with Brian Williams" also got off to a soft start.

Overall, ratings were off about 10 percent from last week. ABC led the night in viewers, bringing in 13.9 million people and a 9.0 rating/14 share in households (its numbers may be slightly inflated because the net's Kansas City affiliate carried "Monday Night Football"). CBS (11.3 million, 7.2/11) finished second. FOX (6.5 million, 4.0/6) was a fairly distant third. NBC averaged 4.3 million viewers and a 2.7/4, and The CW failed to break a million viewers (941,000, 0.6/1) with a night of reruns.

CBS snagged the top spot among adults 18-49 with a 3.8 rating. ABC scored a 2.7 in the demographic to come in second, ahead of FOX's 2.3. NBC drew 1.2 and The CW a 0.3.

Monday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

ABC: Special - "Scared Shrekless" (8.7 million viewers, 5.6/9 households)/"Dancing With the Stars" (14.7 million, 9.6/15)
CBS: "How I Met Your Mother" (10.7 million, 6.5/11)/"2 Broke Girls" (11.1 million, 6.8/11)
FOX: "Terra Nova" (6.4 million, 3.9/6)
NBC: "The Sing-Off" (4.9 million, 3.0/5)
The CW: "Ringer" rerun (1 million, 0.7/1)

18-49 leader: "2 Broke Girls" (4.2)

9 p.m.

ABC: "Dancing With the Stars" (17.1 million, 11.1/17)
CBS: "Two and a Half Men" (13.8 million, 8.4/13)/"Mike & Molly" (11.5 million, 7.1/11)
FOX: "House" (6.55 million, 4.1/6)
NBC: "The Sing-Off" (3.9 million, 2/4.4)
The CW: "Ringer" rerun (867,000, 0.6/1)

18-49 leader: "Two and a Half Men" (4.7)

10 p.m.

ABC: "Castle" (12.9 million, 8.4/14)
CBS: "Hawaii Five-0" (10.3 million, 6.4/10)
NBC: "Rock Center with Brian Williams" (4.1 million, 2.7/4)

18-49 leader: "Castle" and "Hawaii Five-0" tied at 2.9

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change. Source: The Nielsen Company.

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