TV Ratings: 'Happy Town' premiere is sad as 'Idol' rules Wednesday

Big 'Modern Family' numbers, but FOX leads Wednesday overall and in the demo

Thursday, Apr 29, 2010 10:49 AM

Daniel Fienberg

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TV Ratings: 'Happy Town' premiere is sad as 'Idol' rules Wednesday

Amy Acker of ABC's 'Happy Town'

Credit: ABC

Fast National ratings for Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

ABC's new drama "Happy Town" had an unimpressive premiere on Wednesday, but it probably wouldn't have mattered in the night's ratings race anyway, as "American Idol" helped FOX dominate the evening.

Among adults 18-49, FOX won Wednesday with a 4.1 rating, far ahead of the 2.4 rating for ABC in the coveted demographic. NBC's 1.9 rating nipped the 1.8 rating for CBS to finish third. The CW's 0.9 rating was fifth for the night.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 12.34 million viewers to go with a 7.3 rating/12 share. CBS was the network in distant second overall with a 5.1/9, beating the 4.2/7 for both FOX and ABC. The CW's 1.5/2 trailed.

In the 8 p.m. hour, ABC's two episodes of "The Middle" (one a repeat, the second new) and CBS' repeats of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Two and a Half Men" averaged a 4.0/7 to win the hour. The ABC comedies had the advantage in total viewers and won the hour with a 2.0 demo rating. FOX's repeat of "Lie to Me" was third with a 3.4/6 and second in the 18-49 demo. NBC's reairing of "Minute to Win It" finished fourth. The CW's "America's Next Top Model" had a solid hour with a 2.3/4 and 3.27 million viewers.

FOX won the 9 p.m. hour with an 11.2/18 and a 6.5 demo rating for "American Idol." CBS' repeat of "Criminal Minds" was second with a 5.9/9. ABC got a big performance out of "Modern Family" (5.9/9 and a 4.1 demo rating) and then a big drop from "Cougar Town" (4.2/7 and a 2.8 demo) for third. NBC's experiment moving "Mercy" to 9 p.m. yielded a 3.3/5 and a 1.4 demo rating. The CW's "Fly Girls" and "High Society" lagged in fifth.

In the 10 p.m. hour, NBC was in control with a 6.2/11 and a 2.9 demo rating for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." CBS' repeat of "CSI: NY" was second overall. The premiere of "Happy Town" on ABC did a 3.5/6 and a 1.7 demo rating, averaging 5.23 million viewers overall, but falling to under 5 million viewers in its second half-hour. Note that that's better than what "Ugly Betty" was doing in the same time slot earlier this spring and also a bigger overall audience than "V" did on Tuesday.

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

Related Searches: Nielsen ratings, ratings, TV Ratings, Wednesday, American Idol, Happy Town, Modern Family, Cougar Town, The Middle

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RGM

While it's true that Happy Town performed better last night than Ugly Betty did earlier this Spring, keep in mind that last night was Happy Town's premiere. When Ugly Betty premiered in 2006, 16 million people watched. Huge difference.
April 29, 2010 at 1:01PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan RGM - It certainly isn't a SIGNIFICANT statistic. My Twitter feed just happened to have a lot of "This is what ABC cancelled 'Ugly Betty' for?!?" comments. So I felt inclined to note that, time period wise, the "Happy Town" premiere wasn't worse than other shows that have aired in that slot this season. And "Happy Town," like "Eastwick" and "Ugly Betty," will be cancelled. There are no winners there. -Daniel
  April 29, 2010 at 1:22PM EST
buffysmith

well, tv without pity hated it, so i'll give it a try :)
http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/telefile/2010/04/happy-town-about-as-exciting-a.php

April 29, 2010 at 3:32PM EST Reply to Comment
daggor

Even more dismaying is the new that NBC actually airs reruns of "Minute to Win It." it's like they've given up.
April 29, 2010 at 3:39PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan daggor - Normally they've been airing "SVU" repeats at 9 and somebody thought it would be a good idea to give "Mercy" a one-time airing at 9 p.m. just in case the show's problem at 8 p.m. was not enough competition, or something. It's not that NBC's given up so much as that NBC is limited in options at the moment... - Daniel
  April 29, 2010 at 3:51PM EST
elliott

Nice.
April 30, 2010 at 12:01AM EST Reply to Comment