CBS IS NUMBER ONE IN ADULTS 18-49 AND ADULTS 25-54 ON THE FIRST MONDAY OF THE 2008-2009 SEASON

CBS Wins Premiere Monday in Adults 18-49 For the First Time Since 2002

The Second Season Premiere of "Big Bang Theory" Notches Its Best First Run 8:00 PM Deliveries in Viewers and Adults 18-49

"How I Met Your Mother" Has Best Ever Premiere in Adults 18-49

"Two and a Half Men" Has its Best Premiere Delivery in Adults 18-49 Since 2004, Placing First in Its Time Period

"Worst Week" Premieres to 11 Million Viewers

The Season Premiere of "CSI: Miami" Dominates Its Time Period in Viewers and Key Demographics with Double-Digit Percentage Increases Over Last Year

"Late Show with David Letterman" Has its Best Premiere Week Monday Since 2005 and Places First on Premiere Monday For First Time Since 2004

"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" Has Its Best Monday Premiere and Also Places First in Time Period

CBS's placed first in adults 18-49 on premiere Monday for the first time since 2002 and first in adults 25-54 (tie) on the strength of strong premieres for the Network's returning comedy block and the season premiere of time period leader CSI: MIAMI, according to preliminary Nielsen live plus same day ratings for Monday, Sept. 22, the first night of the 2008-2009 television season.

CBS comedies achieved several high water marks, including BIG BANG THEORY with its most watched 8:00 PM telecast ever, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER with its best ever season premiere in adults 18-49 and TWO AND A HALF MEN with its strongest premiere in adults 18-49 since 2004.

At 8:00 PM, BIG BANG THEORY (P) was second in households (5.7/09), viewers (9.36m), 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 8:00PM 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 (9.75m), adults 25-54 (4.7/11) and adults 18-49 (4.0/10). Compared to last season's premiere (at 8:00 PM), HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER was up +11% in households (from 5.3/08), +21% in both adults 25-54 (from 3.9/10) and adults 18-49 (from 3.3/09) and added +1.54m viewers (from 8.21m, +19%). HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER built on its BIG BANG THEORY lead-in by +4% in households, +12% in adults 25-54, +11% in adults 18-49 and added +390,000m viewers. This is HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER's best ever premiere in adults 18-49.

The season premiere of TWO AND A HALF MEN was tied for first in adults 18-49 (5.3/12, with ABC), second in households (9.1/13), viewers (14.93m) and adults 25-54 (6.7/14, -0.2 behind ABC). Compared to the season premiere last year, TWO AND A HALF MEN was up +7% in households (from 8.5/12), +12% in adults 25-54 (from 6.0/13), +10% in adults 18-49 (from 4.8/11) and added +1.33m viewers (from 13.60m, +10%). This is TWO AND A HALF MEN's best premiere delivery in adults 18-49 since 2004.

At 9:30 PM, the series premiere of WORST WEEK (P) was second in households (6.8/10) and viewers (11.04m) and averaged a 4.9/10 in adults 25-54 and 3.8/09 in adults 18-49.

At 10:00 PM, the seventh season premiere of CSI: MIAMI (P) was first in households (11.0/18), viewers (16.87m), adults 25-54 (6.5/15) and adults 18-49 (5.1/12). Compared to last year, CSI: MIAMI was up +10% in households (from 10.0/16), +12% in adults 25-54 (from 5.8/14), +11% in adults 18-49 (from 4.6/12) and added +1.73m viewers (from 15.14m, +11%).

For the night, 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 (13.13m).

In late night, both LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN and THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON won their respective time periods.

LATE SHOW, with guests former President Bill Clinton and Chris Rock, delivered a 4.0/10 in the 55 Nielsen metered markets (Houston is excluded by Nielsen). This is the best Monday performance for LATE SHOW during premiere week since a 4.2/10 on 9/19/05.

LATE SHOW finished ahead of "The Tonight Show" by +0.3 rating points (4.0/10 vs. 3.7/10, +8%), the first time LATE SHOW topped its competition on premiere Monday since 9/20/04.

THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON, with guests Denis Leary and Marianne Jean-Baptiste, delivered a 1.9/07 in the 55 Nielsen metered markets. This was the best performance for LATE LATE SHOW during premiere week since Craig Ferguson took over the show.

LATE LATE SHOW finished ahead of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" by +0.2 HH rating points (1.9/07 vs. 1.7/06, +12%). This is the first time LATE LATE SHOW beat "Conan O'Brien" on premiere Monday with any host.

Updated primetime Monday ratings will be available this afternoon.