TV Ratings: Debate coverage, 'X Factor' and 'Survivor' lead Wednesday

FOX wins in the key demo, while CBS wins overall

By Daniel Fienberg Thursday, Oct 4, 2012 12:09 PM

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama prepare to debate

Credit: AP

Are you a fan of TV Ratings?

Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.

Fast National ratings for Wednesday, October 3, 2012.

Coverage of the first presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama filled two primetime hours for most of the networks in most of the country, while it was "Survivor" helping CBS to an overall win and "X Factor" carrying FOX with young viewers on Wednesday.

Note, of course, that with the debates airing live, all of these numbers are especially preliminary and subject to change, except for The CW, which doesn't believe in debates.

For the night, FOX averaged a 3.1 rating among adults 18-49, beating CBS' 2.8 rating, NBC's 2.7 rating and ABC's 2.6 rating in the key demographic. The CW averaged a 0.6 key demo rating for Wednesday.

Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 9.74 million viewers and a 6.1 rating/9 share, beating ABC's 5.5/8 and 8.765 million viewers for Wednesday primetime. FOX averaged a 4.7/7 and 8.06 million viewers compared to NBC's 5.1/8 and 8 million viewers. The CW averaged a 0.8/1 and 1.36 million viewers.

8 p.m. - In the only hour of primetime unlikely to be impacted, CBS' "Survivor: Philippines" averaged 10.485 million viewers to win 8 p.m. overall, coming in second with a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49. FOX's "The X Factor" averaged 9.26 million viewers and a 3.4 key demo rating, both up from last week. ABC was third with "The Middle" (7.93 million and a 2.2 key demo) and "The Neighbors" (6.61 million and a 2.2 key demo rating), which beat NBC's comedy block of "Animal Practice" (5.22 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo) and "Guys with Kids" (5.5 million and a 1.8 key demo), which both avoided drops from last week. The CW's finale of "Oh Sit!" averaged 915,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - ABC's debate coverage won the 9 p.m. hour overall with 10.29 million viewers and finished tied for second with a 3.0 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' debate coverage averaged 10.24 million viewers and the same 3.0 key demo rating. While NBC's coverage was third overall with 10.01 million viewers, the network was first with a 3.5 key demo rating. FOX trailed on the debate side with 6.87 million viewers and a 2.8 key demo rating. The CW's season premiere of "Supernatural" averaged a strong 1.8 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - ABC's debate coverage stayed first overall for 10 p.m. with 8.74 million viewers and came in second with a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49. NBC's debate coverage moved up to second overall with 8.64 million viewers and won with a 3.0 key demo rating. CBS averaged nearly 8.5 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo rating in 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, particularly in the case of live events.

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.

Related Searches: Nielsen ratings, TV Ratings, ratings, Wednesday, The X Factor, Survivor, The Middle, The Neighbors, Supernatural, Debate Coverage

Next Article - 'Pretty Little Liars' returning to ABC Family for fourth season
Previous Article - Ryan Seacrest on Nicki Minaj-Mariah Carey 'Idol' blow-up: 'We want that'

Trending Now on HitFix Boards

Topic	Started By	Latest Post	Replies
"Idol" premiere drops 27 percent... Any theories?	dan	about 1 year ago	3
Does America want more "Glee" theme episodes?	dan	over 1 year ago	3
Discuss TV Ratings on HitFix Message Boards »

John

NBC should have pre-recorded debates back in the primaries with all potential Republican nominees and Obama so they could have aired the debate a day early and get all of the ratings and not have to split with the other networks
October 4, 2012 at 3:06PM EST Reply to Comment

News From Our Partners

Follow HitFix:

Follow @HitFix

Get Instant Alerts on Breaking News

HitFix.com

Event Calendar

Movies

TV

Music

Videos

Photos

Awards

Riot

In Theaters

New to DVD

On Demand

New Music

TV Ratings: Debate coverage, 'X Factor' and 'Survivor' lead Wednesday

FOX wins in the key demo, while CBS wins overall