Ratings: ‘Elementary’ season 4 premiere rises; ‘Sleepy Hollow,’ ‘Bones’ fall minus crossover

We should start off this ratings article with a little bit of a caveat: CBS was preempted in Cincinnati and Cleveland for the NFL broadcast there between the Bengals and Browns. Therefore, be prepared to see some downward adjustments in the finals.

The winners – Even with “Elementary” likely losing a little bit of steam in the finals, the Jonny Lee Miller series has to feel pretty good about itself right now. The premiere number is a 1.5 in the 18-49 demographic, which is a substantial rise versus the start of season 3. It is even more impressive given that the show was following a rerun of “The Big Bang Theory,” which really is not that much of a lead-in.

As for other news, “Heroes: Reborn” surged up to a 1.3 that will likely stick in the finals, while “How to Get Away with Murder” rose slightly to a 1.9. “The Vampire Diaries” did recover slightly from its previous low, rising up to a 0.6 for an episode that featured some big revelations when it comes to Bonnie’s future.

The losers – Apparently, “Bones” and “Sleepy Hollow” needs crossovers to get people consistently watching. With a 1.2 and then a 0.9 rating individually, both shows posted pretty substantial declines, the latter in particular.

In general, this wasn’t a great night for broadcast TV. For example, the season premiere of “Mom” (2.0) was down pretty substantially from where it was last year, and like with “Elementary” it will probably adjust down. Given its past ratings and the timeslot, the expectations are a little bit higher.