'Life On Mars' Attracts Respectable Audience

ABC's "Life On Mars" was the big winner in the timeslot with a 7.7 rating/13 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. It beat out "Eleventh Hour" on CBS, which earned a 7.7/12. Both beat "ER" on NBC, which managed a 6.0/10.

It wasn't all good news for ABC, however. "Life On Mars" lost nearly 21 percent of the audience that tuned in for "Grey's Anatomy," but remained 33 percent ahead of "Ugly Betty's" numbers in the 8 p.m. hour.

"Eleventh Hour" had a harder time, however. That show lost 46.7 percent of the audience that tuned in for "CSI," and was even 6 percent below "Survivor: Gabon" in the 8 p.m. hour, making it the network's lowest rated show for the night.

Despite that, CBS was able to take the Thursday ratings crown with a 9.6/15, Zap2it reported, while ABC managed just a 7.7/12. The ratings were similar in the admired adults 18 to 49 demographic as CBS took a 4.9 while ABC had a 4.0.

"Smallville" earned a 2.6/4 for The CW tying it for its season low, but that rating has remained extremely steady earning a very strong 96.3 Stability Index Rating as compiled by SyFy Portal, which compares the show's highest overnight rating against its average.

"Supernatural" earned an estimated 2.2/4, also tying a season low so far, but also boasting a strong stability index rating of 95.8. Both are the highest of all genre shows so far this season.

For the week, "Life On Mars" kicked the genre competition debuting in first place followed by "Eleventh Hour." NBC's "Heroes" grabbed the third spot with a 5.0/7, off 12.3 percent from its previous week.

"Knight Rider" was fourth with an estimated 4.2/6 while "Chuck" on NBC took the fifth slot with a 3.8/6.

"Pushing Daisies" finished sixth with a 3.6/6, edging out Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," which picked up a 3.5/5 for the week.

"Smallville" and "Supernatural" rounded out the list for The CW.

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.

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