The season premiere of CBS' Big Brother 5 got the series off to a strong start on Tuesday, finishing first in its time period in both total viewers and numerous key demographics.

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According to the final National Nielsen ratings for July 6, Big Brother 5 was first in its timeslot in viewers, Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Adults 25-54. Airing from 8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT, the premiere of the fifth Big Brother edition drew 9.55 million viewers and a 6.3/11 rating/share in households, as well as a 3.1/10 in the Adults 18-34 demographic, a 3.8/12 in Adults 18-49 and a 4.2/12 in Adults 25-54 -- a performance that placed it first in all the ratings categories.

The premiere outperformed CBS' previous 9-10PM ET/PT summer programming (repeats of The Guardian) by 58% in households (from 4.0/06), 192% in adults 18-49 (from 1.3/04), 343% in Adults 18-34 (from 0.7/02) and 133% in Adults 25-54 (from 1.8/05) while adding over 4 million viewers (from 5.45 million.)

Combined with the network's 9:30-11:00PM ET/PT broadcast of the premiere of The Amazing Race 5, the two CBS reality series took a bite out of the ratings performance of NBC's previously high-flying Last Comic Standing 2, defeating the NBC series in viewers, households, and Adults 25-54, and tying Last Comic in Adults 18-49.

Together, the three hour block of reality programming premieres led CBS to an across-the-board victory in viewers, Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Adults 25-54.