ABC/CARIN BAER
So, that's what the fuss was about?
ABC, which fought off a legal challenge by CBS to air its new reality series Glass House, saw the new show open in its Monday time slot in third place.
Out of three places.
Among broadcast-network competition at 10 p.m., the early Nielsen numbers show, Glass House averaged 4.7 million viewers and a 1.7 rating among adults aged 18 to 49.
It was dominated by the second hour of NBC's American Ninja (5.5 million viewers, 2.1 demo).
It was also outdrawn by a pair of reruns—a pair of reruns as aired on CBS.
[Cue: Evil laugh.]
CBS sued ABC over Glass House last month. It alleged the new show, featuring photogenic adults living in camera-monitored quarters, and playing their way to a cash prize, was a "carbon copy" of its own long-running reality series, Big Brother. ABC argued CBS was trying to prevent it from all it could creatively be.
Last week, a federal judge said he didn't think CBS' copyright claim was "very strong" and the show went on.
In the end, which granted is only the beginning for Glass House, the series' premiere not only got beat by CBS' leftovers, but was significantly down from the show ABC aired in the same time slot last summer, Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.
Big Brother, meanwhile, is scheduled to return July 12.
Last summer, the CBS show opened its season before nearly 8 million viewers.
So, see? Glass House really isn't like Big Brother at all.