RATINGS RAT RACE: NBC Wins With 'Biggest Loser' And 'Parenthood'

Despite built-up anticipation, it was a ho-hum night last night, with no shows breaking out, no shows tanking big time and  NBC’s The Biggest Loser and CBS’ Live to Dance splitting the bragging rights from 8-10 PM. Several series were down though, led by Fox’s Million Dollar Money Drop (1.3/3 in adults 18-49), which was down 24% from its last telecast at 9 PM on Dec. 23. (The game show followed a Glee repeat (1.7/5) last night.)

NBC’s season premiere of The Biggest Loser: Couples (3.3/9) was down 28% from its midseason premiere last January. Still, the reality show was up 14% from its fall premiere, which had posted an all-time low debut numbers for the veteran franchise. At 10 PM, Parenthood (2.3/6) perked up, posting a 21% increase vs. its last original on Nov. 23. Helping things twas the fact that the family dramedy didn’t have to face CBS’ female-driven drama The Good Wife, with CBS airing an NCIS rerun (1.7/5) in the hour. NBC won every half-hour of primetime in the 18-49 demo, finishing No.1 with an average of a 2.9/8 and second to CBS in total viewers with 7.8 million.

CBS (2.2/6, 10.2 million) aired the two-hour premiere of Live to Dance (2.4/6 in 18-49, 10.2 million) from 8-10PM. The Paula Abdul-starring dancing reality series won the slot in total viewers but finished second in the demo to Loser. It did maintain its numbers throughout the two-hour telecast, not adding many new viewers but not losing any either.

ABC’s freshman No Ordinary Family (1.9/5) returned to the 8 PM slot flat with its most recent telecast at 9 PM and up 6% vs. its last airing at 8 PM. At 9 PM, V picked up where it left off last season. The sci-fi drama’s second season premiere (2.1/5) was flat with the show’s first season finale in May, but it was down whopping 60% from the show’s debut in November 2009. In total viewers, this was V‘s most watched episode since March. At 10 PM, struggling freshman Detroit 1-8-7 (1.2/3) was down 14% vs. its most recent original on Dec. 7 to hit an all-time low. The CW aired reruns.