NBC's 'Philanthropist' wins hour with modest debut

UPDATED: The premiere of NBC's new adventure-drama series "The Philanthropist" got off to a fair start Wednesday night, winning the 10 p.m. hour with a modest overall number.

"Philanthropist" (7.1 million viewers, 1.9 national adults 18-49 rating) received mixed reviews from critics and fell a steep 38% from its "America's Got Talent" lead-in (10.4 million, 3.1), yet won its slot in viewers and the demo. That makes "Philanthropist" the top-rated scripted debut this summer, which has yet to otherwise see a scripted breakout success. The drama lost 14% of its adult viewers in its second half hour, however, which could haunt the show next week.

NBC's one-hour time period premiere of "Got Talent" at 9 p.m. slipped only a tenth from its season debut the previous night despite facing (and edging out) Fox's top-rated "So You Think You Can Dance" head-to-head. At 8 p.m., the season finale of NBC's "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" (4.3 million, 1.5) was on par, placing third in the hour.

Fox won the night with a two-hour "Dance" (7.6 million, 2.9), falling slightly from last week. NBC was second, though had the highest-rated show with "Got Talent."

ABC placed third with "Wipeout" (7.8 million, 2.8) followed by the second episode of "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" (4.0 million, 1.5) which fell 29% from last week's debut, getting squeezed out in the hour by "Dance" and the return of "Got Talent." At 10 p.m., the ABC News special "Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America" (4.7 million, 1.1) disappointed (more on the ABC News special's ratings here). CBS' repeats came in last place (for once).