'Nashville' ratings smother 'Chicago Fire' October 11, 2012 -- Updated 2009 GMT (0409 HKT) Hayden Panettiere stars in ABC's "Nashville." "Nashville" premiered to solid ratings on Wednesday night ABC's country music drama delivered 9 million viewers The CW's new action-drama "Arrow" set a record for the network (EW.com) -- "Nashville," the best-reviewed new drama of the fall, premiered to solid ratings Wednesday night, while The CW's new action-drama "Arrow" set a record for the network. ABC's country music drama delivered 9 million viewers and a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49. That's enough to win the hour in the adult demo, topping CBS' "CSI" (10.6 million, 2.6) and the premiere of NBC's new series "Chicago Fire" (6.4 million, 1.9). But "Nashville" was down 15 percent from the launch of "Revenge" in this slot last year. NBC's fire-fighting drama was largely panned by critics and had a disappointing launch, down 21 percent from the debut of "Law & Order: SVU" in this slot last fall. "Nashville" averaged a score of 84 on Metacritic while "Chicago Fire" had a 49. Yet here's something interesting: Of the three dramas in the hour, the Connie Britton series had the weakest audience retention from its first half to its second. "Chicago Fire" didn't shed any of its demo rating between its half hours - which is pretty rare for a show premiering this late at night. Nashville may have a bigger rating, but "Chicago Fire" did a better job of keeping viewers in their seat. Another key debut last night: The CW's "Arrow' (4 million, 1.3 rating) got off to a fine start. This may not be a huge demo rating for the network, but "Arrow" marks The CW's most-watched series debut in total viewers since "The Vampire Diaries" in 2009. The CW's mission this season is to attract a broader audience than just the "Gossip Girl"/"90210" female 18-34 crowd, and hitting 4 million viewers certainly helps. The performance is also impressive considering the network's numbers have been soft the past couple weeks. It's always tougher to jump start a cold engine. "Arrow" also gave "Supernatural" (2.6 million, 1.0) a boost at 9 p.m., spiking the veteran drama to its biggest audience in two years. 'Arrow' debut: Its aim is true Fox topped the night in the adult demo thanks to a steady "The X-Factor" (9.4 million, 3.4). CBS was second with "Survivor" (9.6 million, 2.6) and "Criminal Minds" (11.4 million, 3.0). ABC had "The Middle" (7.8 million, 2.4), up 9 percent, and "The Neighbors" (6.3 million, 1.9), steady. They were followed by a double tap of Modern Family (12 million, 4.7 and 12.2 million, 4.9), down between 11 and 15 percent. 'Parks and Rec': Christie Brinkley in as... The Neighbors has clearly emerged as the weak link in the network's Wednesday comedy chain, but last night also suggested the show might be stabilizing since it did not drop this week. This puts ABC in a tough position. The aliens-next-door sitcom doesn't have a terrible number by this fall's standards, but you don't want to have anything potentially dragging down your top-rated comedy, "Modern Family." NBC also had "Animal Practice" (3.9 million, 1.1), Guys With Kids (4.2 million, 1.4) and "SVU" (6.2 million, 1.8).