'Vampire Diaries' Thursday premiere has bite

Fast National ratings for Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009.

The new CW drama "The Vampire Diaries" scored some of the biggest ratings in the netlet's history on Thursday night.

Of course, even record-breaking ratings for The CW weren't enough to prevent NBC from dominating Thursday night's ratings with the NFL opener between the Steelers and the Titans.

Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a whopping 7.0 rating, more than the other four networks combined. CBS was a distant second with a 1.9 rating. For the second consecutive night, The CW wasn't fifth in the key demographic, taking third with a 1.7 rating, beating the 1.2 rating for FOX and ABC's 1.1 rating.

Overall, NBC averaged an estimated 17.75 million viewers to go with a 10.9 rating/18 share. CBS was second with a 5.1/8, still far ahead of the 2.9/5 for ABC. The CW finished fourth overall for the night with a 2.6/4, leaving FOX in last with a 2.5/4.

In the 8 p.m. hour, the star of NBC's NFL coverage had a 9.7/16. CBS was second with the 4.8/8 for "Big Brother." The CW's "Vampire Diaries" had a 3.1/5 and averaged nearly 4.84 million viewers. Throw in a 2.1 rating in the 18-49 demo and it was The CW's biggest series premiere since "90210" last fall, as "Vampire Diaries" even improved at the half-hour point. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and FOX's "Bones" followed.

The Pittsburgh-Tennessee matchup did a 12.1/19 for NBC in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" was second with a 5.0/8. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" repeat took third with a 3.3/5. FOX's "Fringe" was fourth. The season premiere of The CW's "Supernatural" was fifth with a 2.1/3 and 3.39 million viewers, though the drama's 1.4 demo rating was tied for second for the hour.

NBC stayed on top in the 10 p.m. hour with a 10.7/18 for the game. CBS' "The Mentalist" was second with a 5.4/9. ABC's "Private Practice" trailed.

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