The first indications of last night's ratings are out, The Big Bang Theory was second in the 8PM slot and got a 5.4/9 rating.
How I Met Your Mother which took Bang's old slot posted a 5.7/9 rating.
We'll have more ratings information later.
The show had 9.11 million viewers, 3.7/11 in the adults 18-49 demo, with 5.5/9 over all rating.
This compares to the shows last episode (1.08 The Grasshopper Experiment) which was seen by 9.32 million viewers with a 3.8/8 A18-49 rating and a 5.8/8 over all rating. So while viewer numbers fell, the share actually rose, so more of the TV viewing public were watching the Big Bang Theory than before.
The reasons for the fall in viewership are largely unrelated the show. Daylight savings time means less people are watching TV at night, opting to take advantage of the extra light outside, the new timeslot of 8PM always has fewer viewers than other slots, Dancing with The Stars was on at the same time - a powerful show, and of course any damage the writers strike might have inflicted.
CBS had this to say of last night's ratings: THE BIG BANG THEORY returned with first run episodes, finishing second in households (5.5/09), viewers (9.11m), adults 25-54 (4.3/11) and adults 18-49 (3.7/11). Compared to the program's live plus same day first-run delivery this season, BIG BANG THEORY was up +2% in adults 25-54 (from 4.2/09), +6% in adults 18-49 (from 3.5/09), added +320,000 viewers (from 8.79m +4%).
I'm glad to see the show is holding its own. It's at a bit of a disadvantage changing time slots, and, of course, lost some traction because its been off for so long. It's almost like starting from scratch. Anyway, I have confidence in its future success. My other comment is a bit OT--I had to chuckle when I read that DST affects viewership because people spend the extra hour outside. I envy all those folks who are able to do that--here in the great northeast, the weather is usually so crappy in March (the mud month), that nothing much worthwhile can be done outside until mid April! Daylight Savings Time is a joke.