TV Ratings: Solid 'Law & Order: LA' premiere can't keep CBS from winning Wednesday
'Survivor' and 'Criminal Minds' are strong, while 'The Defenders' drops
A.J. Cook of 'Criminal Minds'
Credit: CBS
Younger viewers seemed distracted on Wednesday night, as "Survivor," "Modern Family" and "Criminal Minds" all took big drops in the 18-49 demographic, while either gaining or remaining relatively stable in total viewers. The night's results weren't impacted very much, as CBS stayed on top overall and in the demo.
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 3.2 rating, beating the 2.9 rating for FOX in the key age range. NBC was third with a 2.5 rating and ABC's 2.4 rating was close behind. The CW finished fifth with a 1.1 rating.
Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 12.32 million viewers to go with a 7.5 rating/13 share. NBC was second with a 5.7/10 and 8.95 million viewers. ABC's 7.29 million viewers and a 4.7/8 finished third. FOX was fourth with 6.31 million viewers and a 3.7/6, while The CW's 1.7/3 and 2.58 million viewers finished fifth.
CBS' "Survivor: Nicaragua" started the night in first with 12.16 million viewers and a 3.4 demo rating (off from a 4.0 demo rating last week). ABC's "The Middle" (8.33 million) and "Better With You" (7.06 million) were down slightly from last week, but finished second overall. NBC's "Undercovers" averaged 7.08 million viewers, down by nearly 1.5 million viewers from last week, and a 1.6 demo rating, good for a distant fourth on the hour. FOX's "Hell's Kitchen" averaged 6 million viewers overall, but finished second in the demo with a 2.8 demo rating. On The CW, "America's Next Top Model" averaged 2.9 million viewers, slightly up from last week, and a 1.3 demo rating.
"Criminal Minds" was up from last week in viewers with 14.41 million, but down in the demo. ABC's "Modern Family" (11.88 million viewers and a 4.5 demo rating) and "Cougar Town" (7.075 million and a 2.9 demo rating) were second overall and won the hour in the demo. NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" had 9.25 million viewers and finished a close fourth in the demo. FOX's "Hell's Kitchen" was fourth overall with 6.6 million viewers and third in the demo. On The CW, "Hellcats" averaged 2.25 million viewers for fifth.
"Law & Order: Los Angeles" premiered with 10.52 million viewers and a 3.1 demo rating, both tops for the hour, though the demo number was lower than what "SVU" did in the 10 p.m. hour last week. CBS' "The Defenders" slipped to 10.38 million viewers in its second week. On ABC, "The Whole Truth" had 4.69 million viewers and a 1.3 demo rating for third.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.
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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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupStormshadow4life
September 30, 2010 at 2:46PM EST Reply to CommentI don't want to be a jerk, but I (and probably others) would really appreciate it if you would start posting these in a similar fashion to Herc over at AICN. You seem to beat him by a full day, yet, I still check out his post because it's 100 times easier to read.
dan Stormshadow4life - Seriously? I find Herc's charts utterly unreadable, plus they provide no context or analysis.
September 30, 2010 at 3:34PM EST-Daniel
Stormshadow4life Many times you leave out the demo ratings (The Middle and Better With You), so the chart makes it very easy to see where things stand (and quick reference to previous weeks). I like the analysis, but a quick list/chart in addition would be very nice
October 1, 2010 at 12:50PM ESTdan Stormshadow4life - I include the demo ratings when they add to context and I don't when they really don't.
October 1, 2010 at 1:19PM EST-Daniel