Ratings: Is Friday Night Lights Back in the Game?

This is how Friday's fare fared:

8 pm/ET
Ghost Whisperer topped the hour, holding steady at 10.52 million total viewers. Howie Do It placed second with 6.06 mil, plunging 21 percent from its premiere.

9 pm
CBS' Flashpoint inched up to 10.38 million viewers, a new series high. Nipping at the heels of Don't Forget the Lyrics (4.84 mil), Friday Night Lights' return to NBC (following a run on DirecTV) was watched by 4.54 million. That's an improvement on time-slot predecessor Lipstick Jungle's numbers, but a 13 percent dip from the high school drama's Season 2 finale.

Now, what does that all mean? When asked at this week's TCA press tour about the fate of such fence-riders as FNL, Chuck and Life, NBC Entertainment president Angela Bromstad said, "We live in a world where we have to have both — we have to have the quality and we have to have the ratings. [We] won't replace shows that are loved by fans and that are good, quality shows just for the sake of putting another show on." Discuss. (Also, read FNL newcomer D.W. Moffett's TVGuide.com celeb blog.)

10 pm
Numbers was the night's most watched program, with an audience of 10.83 million (up 750 thou). 20/20 (6.16 mil) dropped 22 percent week-to-week, while Dateline (5.57 mil) gained 700K.

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