'Top Chef' premiere ratings cut down

The seventh season premiere of "Top Chef" served up a ratings reduction last night. The reality show's D.C. edition drew 1.8 million viewers Wednesday. That's down 27% from the 2009 opener.

"Chef" season premieres posted gains in the ratings for five straight seasons until last year, when its performance dipped for the first time (I continue to suspect the addition of "Top Chef Masters" may be diluting the flagship program's audience a bit).

Yet even last year, "Chef" made serious gains as the season progressed. "Chef" went from a 2.6 million premiere audience to a finale watched by 3.7 million -- its most-watched episode ever. So perhaps this "Chef," too, just needs to simmer awhile longer.