UPDATE: 'White Collar' Pulls in 5.4 Million Viewers

It looks like USA's risky 4th quarter premiere of their newest cop drama, 'White Collar', paid off. According to Variety, 'White Collar' held onto nearly all of its lead-in from 'Monk' on its way to a 1.4/5 18-49 ratings share and 5.4 million viewers. Not only did 'White Collar' tie 'The Jay Leno Show' in adults 18-49, but it also bested the ratings for ABC's 'Wife Swap', 'Ugly Betty', CW's 'Smallville, and FOX's 'Dollhouse'. If 'White Collar' can hold on to at least 75-80% of the viewers it had for the premiere in the next few weeks then I would consider the cable show's fall premiere a success. I think other cable networks will definitely start to encroach a little more on network territory, especially if the major networks fail to stop their ratings free-fall. Who knows, maybe in a few years the majority of new cable shows will premiere in the fall (to be honest, I doubt that will ever happen because one of the most appealing aspects of cable television is that there is no set "season").

BONUS: In case any of you guys are thinking about watching 'White Collar' here's the trailer. I've heard pretty good things about it.