'Nashville Star' has modest debut

Writing the daily ratings is often like being a doctor who's burdened with telling patients the bad news: "I'm sorry, ABC. The test results came back on 'Cashmere Mafia.' It’s not what we hoped."

And Monday night, unfortunately, resulted in a waiting room full of hard-luck cases.

The two-hour "Nashville Star" (6.6 million viewers, 2.2 adults 18-49 rating and a 6 share) premiere ratings were absolutely fantastic for USA Network ... except the show is no longer on USA Network. The reality competition made its NBC debut and was the network's lowest-rated reality premiere in three years. Compared to last season's premiere on USA, however, "Nashville" was up 214%. (A critic's take: "Star" looked brighter on NBC). Lead-in "American Gladiators" was on par (5.6 million, 1.9/6), and the network placed third for the night.

ABC was fourth, with the two-hour "Bachelorette" matching its series low (6.4 million, 2.2/7) . In its second week, "The Mole" dropped 16% (4 million, 1.6/5).

That left CBS to come in first place -- with repeats (averaging 8.1 million, 2.5/7). And Fox to place second -- with repeats (averaging 7.7 million, 2.4/7). The highest-rated show? A repeat of "House" (8 million, 2.7/7) ... surely there's must be a tidy way of making that doctor analogy come full circle here.