Tuesday, September 25, 2012 ratings — The CW had repeats but everyone else had originals. There were three series premieres last night; Ben and Kate and The Mindy Project on FOX and Vegas on CBS. There were also five season premieres (if you count the Dancing with the Stars results show) with NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, New Girl, and Private Practice. Other originals included NBC’s schedule of The Voice, Go On, The New Normal, and Parenthood.

On CBS, NCIS barely beat out The Voice to be the demo winner for the night. That may change in the finals but NCIS was easily the most-watched program. It registered a 4.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic with a whopping 20.16 million total viewers. Year-to-year, that was down in the demo by 5% but up slightly in viewers.

At 9pm, NCIS: Los Angeles returned with a 3.4 in the demo and 16.72 million viewers. It was down by 6% in the demo but was essentially flat in viewers.

Those were followed by the series premiere of Vegas at 10pm. That attracted a 2.5 rating in the demo with 14.7 million. It was first in its timeslot in the demo and more than doubled the viewership of second place Private Practice’s viewership. Compared to Unforgettable’s series debut a year earlier, CBS was down by 14% in the demo (vs a 2.9 rating) and down by 4% in viewers (vs 14.09 million).

On NBC, The Voice drew a 4.0 rating in the demo with 11.25 million viewers. Week-to-week, that was a decline of 15% in the demo and 17% in viewers.

It was followed by the third week of Go On which attracted a 2.7 rating and 7.27 million — a drop of 21% in the demo — thanks to increased competition. The New Normal dropped again, to a 2.0 rating with 5.24 million.

The evening was finished by Parenthood. This family drama is down year-to-year but held steady week-to-week against premieres on both other networks. It attracted a 1.8 rating with 4.81 million.

On FOX, New Girl returned with a 2.7 demo rating and 5.33 million viewers. Compared to the series premiere last year, the sitcom was down by 44% in the demo. The 9pm installment did about the same with a 2.7 rating and 5.19 million. This show is looking less and less like a hit.

The series premiere of Ben and Kate attracted a mediocre 2.0 rating with 4.19 million. It was in third place in the demo, beating the first hour of the DWTS results show, and was in a distant fourth place in viewership. It lost 26% of its demo lead-in from New Girl.

At 9:30pm, the debut of The Mindy Project attracted a 2.4 rating with 4.73 million. Compared to Raising Hope’s second season premiere a year earlier, FOX was down by 23% in the demo (vs a 3.1 rating) and down by 30% in viewers (vs 6.73 million).

On ABC, the two-hour Dancing with the Stars results show drew a 2.0 in the demo with 11.56 million viewers. Year-to-year, that was a loss of 36% in the demo. Last year’s was already way down from the Fall 2011 results premiere.

That was followed by the season premiere of Private Practice at 10pm. It attracted a 1.9 in the demo and 6.56 million viewers. Compared to last September, that was down by 32% in the demo. More yikes.

And finally, on The CW, we had two hours of reruns — Hart of Dixie (0.2 rating with 0.65 million) and The Next (0.2 in the demo with 0.61 million).

What do you think? Are you surprised by any of the series premieres? How about the year-to-year declines? What were you watching last night?