It was a very positive evening for The CW’s ratings with the return of The Vampire Diaries and the series premiere of Beauty and the Beast. Here’s their spin on the numbers:

“Vampire Diaries” Up, Strong Sampling for “Beauty and the Beast”

Entering its fourth (!) season, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is still going strong… up against some tough competition, including the NFL and MLB playoffs, last night’s premiere was up 9% in W18-34 (2.5/8 vs. 2.3/8) compared to last year’s season premiere, up 7% in A18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.5/5), up 12% in total viewers (3.5M vs 3.1M) and held steady in A18-34 (1.7/6).

It was THE VAMPIRE DIARIES best performance in W18-34 in two years (11/11/10).

Compared to this same week last season, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES was up 25% in W18-34, 14% in A18-49, 6% in A18-34 and 20% in total viewers.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST also came out of the gate strong last night – versus the premiere of THE SECRET CIRCLE (which, if you remember, opened well) it was off just a tenth in A18-34 (1.2/3) and flat in A18-49 (1.3/3), and up 4% in total viewers (3.2M)

Versus this same week last year, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is up across the board in the time period, up 33% in A18-34, up 14% in W18-34 (1.6/4), up 63% in A18-49 (1.3/3)

One note that there were some pre-emptions in a small (3.5%) percentage of the country last night, including the Steelers game in Pittsburgh, so these could change a bit when finals come in this afternoon.