One of the biggest questions about the broadcast season heading into premiere week was how CBS would fare on Monday nights without longtime comedy anchor “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
   After one night, the not surprising answer is not as well as last year but perhaps better than CBS had anticipated against tougher than usual competition.
   CBS averaged a 4.9 rating among viewers 18-49 last night, according to Nielsen overnights, a 13 percent decrease versus the 5.6 it averaged last season for its Monday premieres.
   That came opposite the much-hyped Hurricane Katrina relief benefit on ABC’s “Monday Night Football,” which started at 7:30 p.m. and averaged a very strong 6.2 for the entire night. ESPN also had Katrina-themed coverage.
   CBS needed “Two and a Half Men” to do well if it has any hope of staying strong on Monday, and it did. 
   “Men” posted a 5.2 overnight rating last night, down just 5 percent compared to a 5.5 overnight rating for last season’s premiere, and down 12 percent from the 5.9 “Raymond” premiered with in that slot last year.
   “Men” was also down 5 percent versus the 5.5 rating it averaged last season, and down 9 percent from what “Raymond’ averaged in that timeslot last season. In all, not a bad dropoff.
   CBS’s two-hour comedy block was as a weaker lead in for its hit drama “CSI: Miami,” whose premiere averaged a 6.5 overnight rating, down 18 percent versus a 7.9 overnight rating for last season’s premiere and down about 3 percent from last season’s 6.7 average rating.
   Perhaps the night’s biggest disappointment was a so-so debut for the much-hyped new comedy “How I Met Your Mother” at 8:30 p.m. Though it bettered its lead-in, it only averaged a 3.6, behind the debut of NBC’s new drama “Surface.”
   ABC led the night among 18-49s with a 6.2 average rating and a 15 share. CBS finished second at 4.9/12, NBC third at 4.2/10, Fox fourth at 2.7/7, UPN fifth at 1.5/4 and the WB sixth at 1.3/3.
   At 8 p.m. ABC led with a 6.4 average for its coverage of the NFL game between the New York Giants and the New Orleans Saints. NBC was second with a 3.7 average for “Surface” and CBS third with a 3.5 average for premieres of the comedies “The King of Queens” (3.4) and “Mother” (3.6).
   Fox’s “Arrested Development” and “Kitchen Confidential” debuted to a disappointing 2.0 apiece.
   With the Giants-Saints game switching in most markets to ESPN for the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, ABC led again at 9 p.m. with a 6.5 average rating. CBS was second with a 4.8 average for “Men” (5.2) and “Out of Practice” (4.4) and NBC third with a 4.6 average for the season premiere of “Las Vegas.” Fox’s “Prison Break” averaged a 3.8.
   CBS took the lead at 10 p.m. with its 6.5 average for the “CSI: Miami” premiere. ABC was second with a 5.8 average for “MNF” and NBC third with a 4.4 average for the season premiere of “Medium.”
   Among households, ABC led the night with a 10.6 average rating and a 16 share. CBS finished second at 9.5/14, NBC third at 7.8/12, Fox fourth at 4.0/6, the WB fifth at 3.1/5 and UPN sixth at 2.6/4.