Ratings: ‘Bates Motel,’ ‘Dancing with the Stars 16’ off to strong starts

It’s not often that we have good news to share (especially from broadcast networks), so we should start off this ratings article by talking a little bit about the success that ABC had with their new season of “Dancing with the Stars.”

Following the major disappointment (at least in the 18-49 demographic) that was the All-Star season this past year, the latest collection of celebrities ended up drawing a pretty solid demo score of 3.2. This is down from the spring season last year, but still impressive given that the ratings were much lower than most of the fall. (Shrewd viewers may point out that all of this will change when “The Voice” returns next week, but there are no guarantees in this business.)

Meanwhile, there was another victor on NBC: “The Biggest Loser.” The competition show ended up drawing a 2.7 rating for its finale, which is the strongest performance for the show since December 2011. It ultimately looks like the network made the right move both bringing Jillian Michaels back and waiting a year, and hopefully they will be wise enough to do the same thing in 2014 rather than bringing the show back for fall.

Finally, we turn to a cable victory in “Bates Motel.” The highly-touted project from “Lost” co-creator Carlton Cuse drew a 1.3 rating along with more than 3 million viewers, with the former making it the strongest scripted launch in A&E’s history. Of course, this still pales in comparison to the numbers the network draws week in and week out for their unscripted series “Duck Dynasty.”

What did you watch on Monday night? If you want to read our review of the “Dancing with the Stars” premiere, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: A&E