In one of the most competitive time periods of the new season, CBS’s Wednesday 10 p.m. (ET) debut of “CSI: NY” beat NBC’s flagship procedural drama “Law & Order” in total viewers and key adult demos, while the 8 p.m. (ET) debut of “Lost” brought ABC ratings cheer.

According to Nielsen Media Research preliminary fast nationals, “CSI: NY” won the night in the adults 18 to 49 demo with a 6.9 share and 18 rating, up 188 percent from last year’s premiere of “The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.” The CBS procedural show also won the night in total viewers with 18.5 million.

NBC launched the new season of “Law & Order” with a special premiere at 9 p.m., which got a 6.2/16 in adults 18 to 49 and 18.4 million viewers, easily winning its time period. At 10 p.m., however, a second “Law & Order” episode saw its adults 18 to 49 numbers drop to 5.6/14 and total viewers decline to 15.69 million. That was down 26 percent from its 10 p.m. premiere last season.

ABC’s series premiere of the plane crash drama “Lost” garnered a 6.5/19 in adults 18 to 49 and 18.01 million viewers, easily winning the 8 p.m. hour. “Lost” was up 12 percent in the demo from the premiere of “My Wife and Kids” last season.

In second place at 8 p.m. was the first hour of CBS’s “A Dr. Phil Primetime Special: Family First,” which got a 3.8/11 in the demo and 11.17 million viewers. NBC’s “Hawaii” came in with a 2.2/7 in adults 18 to 49, down 21 percent from last week’s episode.

ABC’s two-hour season premiere of “The Bachelor” brought in a 3.8/10 in adults 18 to 49, down 37 percent from its premiere last fall.

The WB’s “Smallville” season premiere had a 2.7/8 in adults 18 to 49, down 10 percent from last year’s premiere (3.0/8). New drama “The Mountain” came up with a 1.8/5 in the demo, a 33 percent decline from its lead-in and 25 percent down versus last season’s debut of “Angel” (2.4/6).

UPN’s season premiere of “America’s Next Top Model” came in with a 1.8/5 in adults 18 to 49, down 10 percent from its season premiere last year. The premiere of the critically acclaimed “Veronica Mars” at 9 p.m. (ET) brought in a 1.1/3 in the demo, down 15 percent from the premiere of “Jake 2.0” last season.

Fox’s comedies saw drops in the adults 18 to 49 demo week to week, with “That ’70s Show” down 19 percent (2.6 versus 3.2), “Quintuplets” down 30 percent (2.1 versus 3.0) and “The Bernie Mac Show” down 8 percent (2.4 versus 2.6). A repeat of “Bernie Mac” at 9:30 p.m. beat last week’s performance of the recently pulled “Method & Red” (2.4/6 versus 1.7/5). Despite the lower numbers, Fox was able to win the night in teens (2.3/9).

CBS won the night in adults 18 to 49 with a 5.4/14, followed by ABC and NBC in a tie for second at 4.7/13. In fourth place was Fox with a 2.4/6, followed by The WB with a 2.3/6 and UPN with a 1.4/4.

In total viewers CBS scored 14.87 million, with NBC coming in second with 13.82 million. ABC was third with 11.65 million, Fox was fourth with 5.19 million, The WB was fifth with 4.82 million, and UPN was sixth with 3.18 million.