"Back to You" gets promising ratings start on Fox

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The new Fox network comedy "Back to You," starring TV sitcom veterans Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, got off to a promising start as the No. 1 show in its time slot, Nielsen Media Research reported on Thursday.

The TV newsroom comedy pairing two of U.S. television's best-known talents, averaged 9.4 million viewers on Wednesday night to eclipse the debut of the highly anticipated -- and controversial -- reality show "Kid Nation" on CBS.

"Back to You" ranked as the night's second-most watched broadcast overall behind the NBC hit game show "Deal or No Deal," which drew 9.7 million viewers.

It also tied at No. 1 with another Fox offering, chef-to-the-rescue show "Kitchen Nightmares," in the night's ratings race for viewers aged 18 to 49, the group generally most prized by advertisers.

The launch of "Back to You" is seen in the TV industry as a key test of whether a traditional TV sitcom can thrive in an era when such shows are being crowded out by reality TV, drama-comedy hybrids and a new breed of single-camera comedies shot in a more cinematic style, without a studio audience.

The show marks an especially big gamble for Fox, a network better known for its cartoon fare such as "The Simpsons," gonzo sitcoms like "Married ... With Children," edgy dramas like "24" and the hit talent show "American Idol."

Grammer, who played snooty psychiatrist Frasier Crane for 20 years on "Cheers" and spinoff sitcom "Frasier," stars on "Back to You" in the similarly pompous role of TV news anchor and womanizer Chuck Darling, hitting a mid-life career crisis.

After an on-camera gaffe costs him a plum job in Los Angeles, Darling lands back at his old Pittsburgh station with his former co-anchor and paramour, Kelly Carr, played by "Everbody Loves Raymond" veteran, Heaton.

Executives at Fox, which began as a network tailored to young viewers, say they are counting on "Back to You" to help build a more mainstream audience.

Fox is a unit of media company News Corp.