Thursday, October 11, 2012 ratings — Beauty and the Beast premiered on The CW last night, preceded by the return of The Vampire Diaries. We also had original episodes of The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Last Resort, The X Factor, 30 Rock, and Up All Night. The Vice Presidential debates aired on ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC from 9pm until 11pm.

On CBS, The Big Bang Theory won the night with a 4.2 rating (-14% week-to-week) in the 18-49 demographic and 13.77 million viewers. It was followed by Two and a Half Men with a 3.4 rating (-6%) and 11.74 million. CBS’ debate coverage tied with NBC in the demo with a 2.1 rating clearly won in viewership with 10.4 million.

On FOX, The X Factor drew a 2.9 rating (-9%) with 8.25 million. For debate coverage, FOX came in third with a 2.0 rating and 5.35 million viewers.

On ABC, Last Resort continues to sink with a 1.6 rating (-16%) and 6.93 million. It tied The CW’s Vampire Diaries in the demo. The alphabet network’s debate coverage was in fourth place with a 1.8 rating and 6.9 million.

On The CW, The Vampire Diaries returned with a whopping 1.6 demo rating and 3.48 million viewers. Year-to-year, the show was up by 7% in the demo (vs a 1.5 rating) and up by 12% in viewership (vs 3.1 million).

The series premiere of Beauty and the Beast drew a very healthy (for The CW anyway) 1.3 rating with 3.16 million viewers. Year-to-year, compared to The Secret Circle’s premiere in the same post-Vampire Diaries timeslot, the network was on par in the demo and up slightly in viewership (vs 3.05 million).

This was a very promising start for the new series but it’s important to remember that, while Secret Circle also had a positive start, its ratings slid over the course of the season and was cancelled in May. The same could happen to Beauty and the Beast.

On NBC, 30 Rock drew a 1.4 rating (0% change) with 3.82 million viewers. It was followed by Up All Night and a 1.2 rating (-14%) with 3.46 million. Both shows were beaten by The CW’s Vampire Diaries. NBC’s debate coverage tied with CBS for a 2.1 demo rating and drew a second place 6.77 million.

What do you think? Are you surprised by the strength of Beauty and the Beast’s strong premiere numbers. Will they slide faster than Secret Circle’s. Are you worried about Last Resort? What were you watching last night?