Ratings: ‘Ben and Kate’ sinks; ‘Hart of Dixie’ rises; ‘Emily Owens, M.D.’ starts low

The latest Presidential debate dominated most of the airtime on Tuesday, and this is more or less reflected in the fact that more than 50 million people ended up catching Barack Obama and Mitt Romney address the nation on all of the major networks that carried it. However, there was still some other good content worth discussing that happened before this even started.

For one, we are sounding the alarm now on Fox’s decision to order more episodes of “Ben and Kate.” It’s a great show (arguably the funniest new comedy of the year), but in between a so-so name and a bad timeslot, it’s not really picking up any traction. Its 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic is a new low, and it’s probably not going to be around by the end of the year. At least “Raising Hope” is fairing slightly better with a 1.7.

The top program of the night was easily “The Voice” with a 4.6, and it was not the only network to post some sort of gain on the night. “Hart of Dixie” recovered from its drop last week somewhat to score a 0.6 rating, but sadly, this did not lead into any good news for new series “Emily Owens, M.D.” Despite having a solid ad campaign and the daughter of Meryl Streep, the 0.5 rating is one of the worst numbers we’ve seen for a new show on the network save for reality shows and Canadian import “The L.A. Complex.”Don’t be surprised at all of a shift in the schedule leads to “Cult” replacing it in the near year if the ratings fail to improve.

What did you end up watching Tuesday night, and do you think Fox made a big mistake with their “Ben and Kate” decision?