Ratings Chart Attack!

Fox and CBS programs held steady Monday night as ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” took a slight dip after its season opener.

“Dancing” strutted its way to a 5.3 rating/14 share among adults 18-49 and 21.1 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen figures. Last night’s two-hour episode was down 13% from the show’s season premiere last week. At 10 p.m. “Castle” (3.1/8, 11.5 million) was up a tick from its series debut last week. ABC finished on top for the night with a 4.6/12 (17.9 million).

Fox placed second with new episodes of “House” (4.8/13, 12.8 million) and “24” (3.7/9, 11.3 million). “House” remained flat over last week, while “24” was up a tick. The network averaged a 4.2/11 (12.1 million) for the night.

The dip in last night’s “Dancing” gave some CBS comedies a slight bounce. “The Big Bang Theory” (3.7/11, 9.8 million) was up a tick from last week, while “How I Met Your Mother” (3.8/10, 9.2 million) was up 6%, “Two and a Half Men” (4.8/12, 14 million) was flat and “Rules of Engagement” (4.0/10, 11.4 million) was up 8% from last week. At 10 p.m. “CSI: Miami” (3.8/10, 13.3 million) was down 12% from the previous week, but it was the top show in its timeslot. Overall the network scored a 4.0/11 (11.9 million) to finish third.

The CW returned with new episodes to score a 1.1/3 (2.3 million). Compared with their most recent original telecasts, “Gossip Girl” (1.1/3, 2.2 million) was flat while “One Tree Hill” (1.2/3, 2.3 million) was up a tick. The network scored a 2.6/7 among women 18-34.

NBC (1.3/3, 3.7 million) landed in fourth place with repeats of “Chuck,” “Heroes” and “Medium.”