'CSI' Season Opener Loses Battle Against 'Grey's Anatomy'

The much-hyped face-off between CSI:Crime Scene Invesitgation and Grey's Anatomy resulted in defeat for the formerly #1 drama on television.

According to preliminary numbers from Nielsen, CSI was handily beat by Grey's across the board. Grey's won adults 18-49 (10.9/26 to 7.5/18) and adults 25-54 (11.7/25 to 9.3/20). Grey's also won in total viewers (25.1 million to 22.0 million).

Grey's was up 26% in adults 18-49 from its September 2005 premiere in 18-49 (8.3/2.0) and rose 10% over its May 2006 season finale (9.9/22). By contrast, CSI declined 26% from it's premiere last season (10.2/25) and 10% from it's May finale (8.3/20). Last night's numbers will likely put CSI in the number three drama of the week in 18-49.

Spin-offs CSI:Miami and CSI:New York performed much better than the franchise original this week. The new Aaron Sorkin drama Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip was expected to provide solid competition for CSI:Miami. It did not. Miami won in both 18-49 (5.8/15 to 5.0/15) and total viewers (17.62 million to 13.41 million), placing it in the top slot on Monday night.

CSI:New York similarly proved to be a winner on Wednesday night with 4.9/13 in 18-49 and 16 million total viewers.

To read more, visit Variety.

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