At 8pm last Friday, Ghost Whisperer became the most-watched program of the evening.  Despite low numbers for other season premieres, the series starring Jennifer Love Hewitt dominated the night's opening hour.  It was easily the top show, and even managed to hold its viewership from last year's premiere. 

Ghost Whisperer delivered 9.3 million total viewers, which was a seven percent increase over the season 3 opener.  The series won the hour by 4 shares, getting a prelim 2.4 rating/9 share in adults 18-49.  Also on CBS, a new romantic drama aired but got dreary results.  It was The Ex List, getting about 6.9 million total viewers, which was down about 20% from last year's premiere of Moonlight in the same hour.

Numb3rs didn't do so well either, obtaining 8.1 million as total.  At least CBS was still the high-ranking channel that night.  ABC came in second with Wifeswap (prelim 1.3/5 in 18-49, 3.8 million), Supernanny (prelim 1.5/5, 4.2 million), and best of all 20/20 with 6.8 million viewers.  NBC had to struggle with its 3.4 million watchers of America's Toughest Jobs, but raised its audiences with Deal or No Deal an hour later.

Fox and the CW network didn't have much to boast about.  Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader received 5.8 million viewers while the CW comedy Everybody Hates Chris got 2.1 million.  Hands down, Melinda Gordon's return to the haunting realm of ghosts shot the network to success.

Premiering with “Firestarter,” Melinda had to rush to Rockland University to face a fire that broke out, and to make sure Rick Payne (Jay Mohr) is all right.  There she witnessed a near-death moment by one of Payne's colleagues, Eli (Jamie Kennedy).  Though many admit that the season opener wasn't much of an eye-opener, it was necessary for the plot.  The addition of Jamie Kennedy's character received a number of mixed comments, but there's still more to come on Ghost Whisperer so it's best to wait and see.

Next on Ghost Whisperer is the episode “Big Chills,” where Melinda returns to her past as she meets up with some high school classmates.


-Maria Gonzalez, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: CBS, Variety.com
(Image Courtesy of CBS)