The fourth-season premiere of ABC’s “Lost” delivered the best numbers in more than a year for the hit mystery drama last night, lifting the network to an easy first-place finish on the first night of sweeps.

“Lost” averaged a 6.7 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen overnights, the show’s best rating since its November 2006 fall finale. It also drew 16.1 million total viewers, its best number since November 2006.

The show was 16 percent above last May’s 5.9 18-49 season finale average and 14 percent above its full-season average of 5.9. Last spring it aired at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

“Lost” also knocked out its toughest competition, NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” which posted a season-low 2.8 rating at 9 p.m., down 24 percent from last week’s 3.7. The second hour of “Apprentice” did perk up to a 3.6.

“Lost” gave the series premiere of “Eli Stone” a nice boost at 10 p.m. as well. The show averaged a 4.2 rating, holding only 63 percent of “Lost’s” audience but easily winning the timeslot.

That helped ABC to a dominant victory last night, marking just the second time since 1991 that the network won the opening night of February sweeps.

ABC averaged a 5.3 average overnight rating and a 14 share. Fox was second at 3.2/8, NBC third at 2.8/7, CBS fourth at 2.4/6, Univision fifth at 1.6/4 and CW sixth at 1.4/4.
 
ABC led each hour of the night, beginning with a 4.9 at 8 p.m. for a “Lost” clip show. Fox was second that hour with a 3.1 for “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?,” with Univision and NBC tied for third at 2.1, Univision for “Al Diablo con los Guapos” and NBC for repeats of “My Name is Earl” and “The Office.” CBS was fifth with a 1.9 for a repeat of “CSI: NY” and CW sixth with a 1.6 for “Smallville.”
 
At 9 p.m. ABC led again with a 6.7 for “Lost,” while Fox was second again with a 3.3 for “Don’t Forget the Lyrics.” CBS and NBC tied for third at 2.8, CBS for a “CSI” rerun and NBC for “Apprentice,” with Univision fifth with a 1.6 for “Pasion” and CW sixth with a 1.3 for “Supernatural.”
 
ABC completed the nightly sweep with a 4.2 at 10 p.m. for “Stone,” followed by NBC with a 3.6 for its second half of “Apprentice.” CBS was third with a 2.4 for a repeat of “Without a Trace” and Univision fourth with a 1.2 for “Amas de Casa Desperadas.”
 
Among households, ABC led the night with an 8.3 average overnight rating and a 13 share. CBS was second at 6.9/11, Fox third at 6.2/9, NBC fourth at 4.5/7, CW fifth at 2.1/3 and Univision sixth at 1.9/3.