New TV season kicks off tonight amid intense competition (NYT)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Tonight's TV season kick-off has been described as the most intensely competitive opening night in recent memory, says The New York Times. The paper takes a walk around the dial and notes that the big pressure will be heaviest at NBC which is leading with the highest new card in its possession: "The Event."

"It is one heck of a way to start off the season, there's no question," Kelly Kahl, chief program scheduler for CBS, told the paper.

Established hits will return, including "House" on Fox, "Two and a Half Men" on CBS and "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC.

Some of the most prominent new series like "Hawaii Five-0" on CBS and "Lone Star" on Fox will also debut.

Back at NBC, part of the network's strategy in unveiling "The Event" in the middle of its Monday night lineup was to bring the big audience from Sunday Night Football which the network used to promote the show. However, also running on Monday night is Monday Night Football over on ESPN.

"You could make a case that ESPN could prove to be the toughest competitor of all on the night," Brad Adgate, the senior vice president for research at Horizon Media, told the NYT, noting that on two occasions last season, the cable channel brought in more than 20 million viewers for its Monday games.

Angela Bromstad, president of NBC prime-time entertainment and head of the NBC Universal production studio, told the NYT: "The DVR numbers are going to be very, very important."