TV Ratings: 'American Idol' coasts on Wednesday, while 'Revenge' and 'Apartment 23' drop

'L.A. Complex' encore outdraws its premiere

By Daniel Fienberg Thursday, Apr 26, 2012 11:58 AM

Jennifer Lopez of "American Idol"

Credit: FOX

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Fast National ratings for Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

FOX and "American Idol" remained untouchable on Wednesday night, as the singing show was basically flat week-to-week and helped the network dominate primetime in all key measures.

Meanwhile, without a new "Modern Family," ABC's "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" and "Revenge" both took noticeable drops.

Finally, before going into the numbers, The CW's "L.A. Complex" drew more viewers for its Wednesday encore than for its Tuesday premiere, which isn't meaningful necessarily, but is at least slightly interesting.

For the night, FOX averaged a 4.6 rating among adults 18-49, easily topping the night in the key demographic. CBS was a distant second with a 1.9 rating, followed closely by ABC's 1.8 rating. NBC averaged a 1.2 key demo rating for the night, better than the 0.4 rating for The CW.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 16.48 million viewers for Wednesday primetime along with a 10.0 rating/16 share. CBS was far back in second with a 5.1/8 and 7.935 million viewers, comfortably ahead of ABC's 3.7/6 and 5.635 million viewers and NBC's 3.2/5 and 4.82 million viewers. The CW averaged 908,000 viewers and a 0.6/1.

8 p.m. - "American Idol" averaged 15.66 million viewers and a 4.3 rating among adults 18-49 for the 8 p.m. hour, slightly down from the same hour last week. CBS' "Survivor: One World" averaged 9.53 million viewers and a 2.6 key demo rating in second. ABC's repeats of "The Middle" and "Suburgatory" averaged 4.72 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating to beat NBC for the hour. NBC actually was third with "Betty White's Off Their Rockers" (5.81 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo) and then dropped off a cliff for "Best Friends Forever" (2.72 million and a 0.8 key demo). The CW's "L.A. Complex" encore averaged 721,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating in fifth.

9 p.m. - FOX stayed in first for the 9 p.m. hour with the 17.3 million viewers and 4.9 rating among adults 18-49 for "American Idol," which was up from the comparable hour last week. CBS' repeat of "Criminal Minds" averaged 7.63 million viewers for second overall and a 1.8 key demo rating for third. ABC was third overall and second in the key demo with a "Modern Family" repeat (5.83 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating) and a new "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" (4.885 million and a 2.0 key demo), as the new comedy took a big drop from last week, but still exceeded recent post-"MF"-repeat episodes of "Happy Endings." NBC was fourth with 3.79 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating in what actually constitutes a strong week for "Rock Center." The CW's "America's Next Top Model" was fifth with under 1.1 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - With its lowered lead-in, ABC's "Revenge" slipped to 6.83 million viewers and a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49, still winning the hour. CBS' repeat of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" averaged 6.65 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating, compared to the 6.4 million viewers and 1.6 key demo rating for a new "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" on NBC.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

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Discuss TV Ratings on HitFix Message Boards »

joel

L.A. Complex same demo more viwers! thats got to be an interesting sign for the CW but also the middle and Suburgatory was in repeats still good exposure
April 26, 2012 at 12:14PM EST Reply to Comment
- JedyKnight the L.A. Complex thing *is* interesting, but i wonder if that increase was due to standard positive word of mouth on the show, or people who liked the show (critics and viewers) asking/begging others to check it out due to the dismal first showing.
  
  April 26, 2012 at 1:06PM EST
JedyKnight

On other fronts, i'm sorry but Revenge is good at what it does.. i find it better than current D.Housewives, Private Practice, and other network prime time soaps (i think only third behind The Good Wife -that has cable level quality- and Grey's Anatomy that still has frequent flashes of it's former strenght)..

on the opposite side, Best Friends Forever, i like the comedians in real life, but the show is not very good.
April 26, 2012 at 1:06PM EST Reply to Comment
Mikayla

You are amazing ! You are so beatiful
April 26, 2012 at 8:31PM EST Reply to Comment

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TV Ratings: 'American Idol' coasts on Wednesday, while 'Revenge' and 'Apartment 23' drop

'L.A. Complex' encore outdraws its premiere