Ratings: Touch Posts Second-Biggest Drama Debut of the Season

Kiefer Sutherland They can obsess about these numbers on Touch: Wednesday night's preview of the series that begins March 19 pulled in the second-biggest audience of any prime-time premiere this season. It was second only to ABC's Once Upon a Time, which reeled in 12.79 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among industry-prized 18-to-49-year-olds on Oct. 23, and Kiefer Sutherland's TV comeback surpassed the debut of two other ballyhooed Fox shows this season, Alcatraz (9.97 million/3.3 on Jan. 16) and Terra Nova (9 million/3.1 on Sept. 26), according to preliminary Nielsen figures. Of course, Touch had the benefit of following American Idol, which was the night's most-watched show by far (despite its relatively lagging numbers), and kept 61 percent of its lead-in's viewership. Read our American Idol recap In prime time's final hour, the departure of Marg Helgenberger's Catherine from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation gave the show an uptick of nearly 20 percent compared with last week. Check out the rest of the day's news on TVGuide.com 8 p.m.CBS: Criminal Minds [rerun] 7.91 million viewers (1.7 demo rating)ABC: The Middle [rerun] 5.26 million (1.5); Suburgatory [rerun] 4.21 million (1.4)Fox: American Idol 19.51 million (6.4)NBC: Whitney 4.50 million (1.4); Are You There, Chelsea? 3.90 million (1.4)CW: One Tree Hill 1.47 million (0.7) 9 p.m.CBS: Criminal Minds 13.70 million viewers (3.6 demo rating)ABC: Modern Family [rerun] 6.49 million (2.5); Happy Endings [rerun] 4.02 million (1.7)Fox: Touch 11.87 million (3.9)NBC: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit [rerun] 3.75 million (1.2)CW: Remodeled [rerun] 659,000 (0.3) 10 p.m.CBS: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation 14.03 million viewers (3.3 demo rating)ABC: Revenge [rerun] 3.12 million (0.9)NBC: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit [rerun] 4.01 million (1.4)