"Fringe" Premiere & "90210" Week #2 Ratings

Has all the hype paid off? "Fringe" series premiere ratings have arrived, along with week #2 of "90210" and the series premiere of CW's new soap "Privileged."

The 90-minute premiere of "Fringe" pulled in 9 million viewers, generating a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49.

Although that is a somewhat decent start for the series, I do believe FOX expected higher figures. Even 2005 premiere of "Prison Break" did a little better with less hype.

The ratings should however improve in the coming weeks with FOX's #1 scripted hit "House" giving the new drama a little lead-in push.

Over on The CW, one third of viewers who watched last week's premiere of "90210" were gone, as the redux took a big plunge from 4.9 to only 3.3 million viewers, with a very modest 1.7 rating among adults 18-49.

Perhaps CW executives should have waited before boasting about its record-breaking figures last week. Given the original show's cult status, last week's solid sampling was a sure shot.

Finally, the new soap "Privileged" got a modest 2.9 million viewers for its 9pm series premiere, leading out of "90210."

Perhaps, CW prexy Dawn Ostroff (a.k.a. Everwood-killer) was not on the mark with her strategy of programming similar shows every day after all. Then again, there's always a way to spin everything.

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