Aside from NBC’s improving fortunes, the broadcast networks aren’t having a great start to the 2012-13 television season, reports MediaLife.

All the other broadcasters are down in the ratings from last year, and the combined top five networks have seen an 11% falloff among viewers 18 to 49, the story notes.

Combined, they have earned an 11.8 rating in the demographic during the first seven weeks of the season, according to Nielsen, down from a 13.3 rating at this time last year.

NBC leads with a 3.2 rating, up from a 2.6 rating last year. CBS is in second place with a 2.8 rating, representing an 18% decline from its 3.4 rating last fall. ABC, meanwhile, is off 7%, while Fox has plummeted 29%. The CW is down 30%.

"One [reason] is simply the natural erosion that broadcast has seen over recent years as viewers are increasingly distracted by cable, video games, tablets and other new media devices that take their time away from traditional broadcast viewing," the story notes.

"But certainly this year’s lackluster crop of new shows can also take some blame. Last year new shows such as ‘The X Factor,’ ‘Once Upon a Time,’ ‘2 Broke Girls’ and ‘New Girl’ all drew good ratings," the article points out.

"This year there are just two hits, ‘Revolution’ and ‘Arrow.’"