CBS's "Big Brother" premiered its 16th cycle Wednesday night, improving on its season premiere a year ago, based on Nielsen overnights for the key 18-49 demo. TVbytheNumbers.com reports that the show delivered a 2.3 average rating, helping CBS eke out a narrow win for prime time.

The "Big Brother" premiere was up one-tenth of a point from the year-ago premiere in the 18-49 demo, and was easily the top show of the night on broadcast prime. CBS filled out its prime time with drama repeats but averaged a 1.5 for the night to edge Fox by one-tenth.

Going head-to-head with "Big Brother" in the 8 p.m. hour, Fox's two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" saw some erosion. The dance competition fell 18% from its season high a week ago, settling for a 1.4 average in 18-49.

NBC continued to get mileage out of its repeat episodes of "America's Got Talent," with Wednesday's two-hour rerun generating a 1.3 in adults 18-49. That was better than its lead-out, the series premiere of "Taxi Brooklyn," which managed only a 1.0.

ABC mixed repeats with fresh programs, with a new episode of "Motive" equaling its series low, a 0.7 in the 18-49 demo.

For prime time overall, CBS's 1.5 average in viewers 18-49 led the broadcast networks, followed by Fox (1.4 average), Univision (1.3), NBC (1.2) and ABC (0.9). CBS took a narrow win in total viewers, averaging 6.1 million to lead NBC (5.9 million), Fox (4.4 million), ABC (3.7 million) and Univision (3.0 million).