PREMIERE WEEK 2008/09 WILL THE VIEWERS RETURN?...THE ANSWER IS YES ON CBS

"How I Met Your Mother," "Two and a Half Men," "CSI: Miami," "NCIS," "Criminal Minds" and "CSI: NY" All Return with Larger Premiere Audiences Than Last Year

Series High Premiere Ratings for "Mother," "NCIS" and "Criminal Minds"

"The Mentalist" Opens to 15.6 Million Viewers, Making it the Number One New Show of the Season

CBS Grows its Audience on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...With Much of Thursday (Including "CSI") and All of Friday Yet to Premiere

CBS was the only network to show premiere week growth with its returning scripted programs as HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, TWO AND A HALF MEN, CSI: MIAMI, NCIS, CRIMINAL MINDS and CSI: NY all returned with larger audiences compared to premiere week last year, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Sept. 28, the first week of the 2008-2009 television season.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, NCIS and CRIMINAL MINDS each delivered their best ever premiere ratings ever, TWO AND A HALF MEN scored its best premiere numbers since 2004 and BIG BANG THEORY had its best ratings since moving into the Monday time period.

(Editor's Note: CBS's weekly averages and weekly year-to-year comparisons were impacted by delayed premieres of its highly rated Thursday and Friday regular lineups as well as an NFL overrun in last year's premiere week average. CBS's 9:00-11:00 PM block on Thursday, including the top-rated CSI, will premiere on Oct. 9; its Friday lineup will premiere on Oct. 3).

Among its freshmen series, THE MENTALIST opened to 15.6 million viewers in its Tuesday premiere (then tallied an additional 7.9 million viewers in a Friday encore), making it the season's Number One new series so far. Nielsen Media Research estimates 26 million viewers watched THE MENTALIST during premiere week.

For the week in viewers: CBS (11.21m), ABC (12.26m), NBC (8.31m) and FOX (7.50m). Among viewers, CBS was first on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday while second on Monday and Thursday.

For the week in key demographics, CBS was second in adults 25-54 (4.1/10) and averaged a 3.1/08 in adults 18-49.

For the week in households: CBS (7.1/12), ABC (7.8/13), NBC (5.2/08) and FOX (4.6/07).

Note: During Week #1, CBS had 20 hours of rated programming in primetime. NBC had 19 � hours, ABC had 20 hours and FOX had 14 hours.

CBS's Premiere Week Highlights:

-- Monday, CBS was first in adults 18-49 (4.5/11), tied for first in adults 25-54 (5.6/13, with ABC), second in households (8.2/13) and viewers (13.22m). This is the first premiere Monday adults 18-49 win for CBS since 2002.

? BIG BANG THEORY (P) was second in households (5.7/09), viewers (9.32m), adults 25-54 (4.2/11) and adults 18-49 (3.6/10). This is BIG BANG's best first-run delivery at 8:00 PM in households and viewers, matches the best 8:00 PM adults 18-49 delivery and is the second best 8:00 PM adults 25-54 performance.

? HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (P) was second in households (5.9/09), viewers (9.79m), adults 25-54 (4.8/11) and adults 18-49 (4.0/10). This is the best season premiere performance for HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER ever in adults 18-49. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER built on its BIG BANG THEORY lead-in by +4% in households, +14% in adults 25-54, +11% in adults 18-49 and added +470,000m viewers. Compared to last season's premiere (at 8:00PM), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER was up +11% in households, +23% in adults 25-54 and +21% in adults 18-49.

? TWO AND A HALF MEN (P) was second in households (9.1/13), viewers (14.88m), adults 25-54 (6.8/14, -0.2 behind ABC) and adults 18-49 (5.2/13, -0.1 behind ABC). This was TWO AND A HALF MEN's best premiere delivery in adults 18-49 since 2004. TWO AND A HALF MEN was the night's #1 program in adults 18-49 (tied with "Dancing With The Stars"). Compared to the season premiere last year, TWO AND A HALF MEN was up +7% in households, +13% in adults 25-54 and +10% in adults 18-49.

? WORST WEEK (P) was second in households (6.7/10) and viewers (10.87m) posting a 4.8/10 in adults 25-54 and a 3.8/08 in adults 18-49.

? CSI: MIAMI (P) was first in households (11.1/18), viewers (17.23m), adults 25-54 (6.6/15) and adults 18-49 (5.2/13) with its seventh season premiere. CSI: MIAMI was the night's #1 scripted series in households and viewers, #1 drama in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49. Compared to the sixth season premiere, CSI: MIAMI was up +11% in households, +14% in adults 25-54 and +13% in adults 18-49.

-- Tuesday, CBS was first in households (9.5/15) and viewers (14.99m). This is CBS's first premiere week Tuesday viewers win since 2004 and the largest premiere Tuesday audience since 2001.

? NCIS (P) won its time period in households (11.3/18), viewers (18.03m), finished second in adults 25-54 (5.3/13) and adults 18-49 (3.6/10) with its season premiere. This is the best premiere delivery ever for NCIS in households, viewers and adults 25-54, the second best premiere delivery in adults 18-49 (behind 2005). Compared to last season's premiere, NCIS was up +28% in households, +18% in adults 25-54 and +13% in adults 18-49.

? THE MENTALIST (P) was second with its series premiere in households (9.9/15), viewers (15.60m), adults 25-54 (5.0/11) and posted a 3.5/09 in adults 18-49. This is the best series premiere for a CBS program in this time slot since THE UNIT on March 7, 2006 in households, viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49. Compared to the time period premiere last year (THE UNIT), THE MENTALIST was up +48% in households, +28% in adults 25-54 and +25% in adults 18-49.

? WITHOUT A TRACE (P) was second in households (7.4/12), viewers (11.28m), delivering a 3.7/09 in adults 25-54 and 2.8/07 in adults 18-49. WITHOUT A TRACE outdelivered the time period's incumbent drama, "Law & Order: SVU", by +16% in households (vs. 6.4/10) and +1.60m viewers (vs. 9.68m, +17%).

-- Wednesday, CBS was first in households (7.9/13), viewers (12.59m), adults 25-54 (4.8/12) and adults 18-49 (3.6/10). This was the second time in three years CBS won premiere week Wednesday in all these measures.

? GARY UNMARRIED (P) (4.5/07, 6.82m) delivered a 3.1/08 in adults 25-54 and 2.4/07 in adults 18-49. GARY UNMARRIED improved upon its NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE lead-in by +5% in both households and viewers, +14% in adults 18-49 and +7% in adults 25-54.

? CRIMINAL MINDS (P) (9:15-10:15PM) won its 9PM time slot in households (10.5/16), viewers (17.01m), adults 25-54 (6.3/14) and adults 18-49 (4.7/12). This was CRIMINAL MIND's best Wednesday premiere delivery in households, viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49. CRIMINAL MINDS was Wednesday's #1 program in households, viewers, adults 25-54 and adults 18-49. Compared to its season premiere last year, CRIMINAL MINDS was up +28% in households, +40% in adults 25-54 and +34% in adults 18-49.

? CSI: NY (P) (10:15-11:15PM) won its time slot in households (9.2/16), viewers (14.59m), adults 25-54 (5.2/13) and adults 18-49 (4.0/11). This was CSI: NY's largest audience since February 14, 2007, best households and adults 18-49 delivery since December 12, 2007 and best adults 25-54 performance since November 28, 2007. CSI: NY was the night's #2 program in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49, behind CRIMINAL MINDS. Compared to the CSI: NY season premiere last year, CBS was up +14% in households, +13% in adults 25-54 and +8% in adults 18-49.

--Thursday, CBS was second in households (7.2/11), viewers (11.82m), adults 25-54 (4.8/11) and adults 18-49 (3.8/10).

? SURVIVOR: GABON (P) (8:00-10:01 PM) was tied for first in adults 25-54 (5.6/13, with ABC), second in households (7.7/12), viewers (13.06m) and adults 18-49 (4.5/11). SURVIVOR: GABON won the first hour (8:00-9:00 PM) in households (7.8/13), viewers (13.18m), adults 25-54 (5.6/14) and adults 18-49 (4.5/13). CBS topped its closest competitor in the 8:00 PM hour by +18% in households (+1.2 rtg), +51% in adults 25-54 (+1.9 rtg), +36% in adults 18-49 (+1.2 rtg) and +34% in viewers (+3.38m).

? THE MENTALIST FRIDAY SPECIAL (R) (S) was won its time period in households (5.3/09), viewers (7.90m), adults 25-54 (2.5/08) and adults 18-49 (1.8/06). Nielsen Media Research estimates at 26 million viewers watched THE MENTALIST last week.

-- Saturday, CBS was first in households (4.1/07) and viewers (5.94m).

? 48 HOURS MYSTERY (P) won its time slot in households (5.0/09), viewers (7.32m), adults 25-54 (2.4/07) and was second in adults 18-49 (1.8/06). This is 48 HOURS MYSTERY's best delivery in households since February 9, 2008, best viewers total since November 27, 2007 and best delivery in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 since March 8, 2008. 48 HOURS MYSTERY was the night's #1 program in households, viewers and adults 25-54.

CBS top programs of the week: #5 NCIS (P) (an average of 18.03m viewers), #7 CSI: MIAMI (P) (17.23m), #8 CRIMINAL MINDS (P) (17.01m), #10 THE MENTALIST (P) (15.60m), #11 TWO AND A HALF MEN (P) (14.88m), #12 CSI: NY (P) (14.59m), #13 SURVIVOR: GABON (P) (13.06m), #14 60 MINUTES (P) (12.59m), #20 COLD CASE (P) (11.36m), #21 WITHOUT A TRACE (P) (11.28m), #22 WORST WEEK (P) (10.87m), #25 THE AMAZING RACE 13 (P) (10.04m), #27 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (P) (9.79m) and #29 THE UNIT (P) (9.71m).

Prime averages are based on the following hours of rated broadcasts in Week #01:

CBS: 20 hours

NBC: 19.5 hours

ABC: 20 hours

FOX: 14 hours

Editors Note: DVR penetration is now at 28% compared to 19% last year at this time. Ratings are expected to increase once live plus 7 day playback is tallied.