TV Ratings: 'Modern Family' is strong, but World Series Game 1 leads FOX on Wednesday

'Nashville' doesn't drop, while 'Arrow' slips a little

By Daniel Fienberg Thursday, Oct 25, 2012 12:11 PM

The Panda goes deep

Credit: AP

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Fast National ratings for Wednesday, October 24, 2012.

"Modern Family" remained Wednesday's top show in most key measures, but FOX still claimed victory for the night thanks to World Series Game 1 between the Giant and Tigers.

Although it failed to win the night, ABC got some reassuring news in the form of a hold for the third week of "Nashville," which had plummeted in its previous airing.

Among other new shows, "The Neighbors" and "Chicago Fire" both posted week-to-week growth, while The CW's "Arrow" was down a little in the key demo, but held most of its overall audience.

On to the numbers...

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 3.3 rating for Wednesday night, beating ABC and CBS' 2.7 rating in the key demographic. There was a big drop to NBC's 1.6 rating and to The CW's 0.9 rating in the key demo.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 11.77 million viewers and a 7.3 rating/11 share for the night, topping CBS' 10.495 million viewers and 6.8/10. ABC was third with a 5.2/8 and 8.09 million viewers, well ahead of NBC's 5.6 million viewers and 3.8/6. The CW averaged a 1.8/3 and 2.68 million viewers for Wednesday prime.

8 p.m. - FOX's baseball coverage started the night in first with 12.37 million viewers and a 3.4 rating among adults 18-49. The baseball had no impact on CBS' "Survivor: Philippines," which averaged 10.14 million viewers and a 2.8 key demo rating in second. ABC was third with "The Middle" (8.61 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo rating) and "The Neighbors" (6.87 million and a 2.0 key demo). NBC's already cancelled "Animal Practice" (3.8 million and a 1.2 key demo) and not cancelled "Guys with Kids" (3.83 million and a 1.3 key demo rating) followed. On The CW, "Arrow" averaged 3.47 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - CBS moved into first for the 9 p.m. hour with 11.505 million viewers and finished third with a 3.0 rating among adults 18-49. The Giants and Cardinals game had FOX in second overall with 11.17 million viewers, and second among adults 18-49 with a 3.1 rating. ABC won the hour in the key demo and finished third overall with "Modern Family" (12.48 million viewers and a 4.9 key demo) and "Suburgatory" (7.45 million viewers and a 2.7 key demo). NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" was fourth with 6.68 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating. On The CW, "Supernatural" dropped to just under 1.9 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - Baseball won the 10 p.m. hour, but since that's out of FOX's primetime range, we say that CBS finished first with 9.84 million viewers and a 2.4 rating among adults 18-49 for "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." ABC's "Nashville" averaged 6.575 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating, losing a couple viewers, but staying steady in the demo. NBC's "Chicago Fire" averaged 6.3 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo rating.

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.

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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, Survivor, The Middle, The Neighbors, Supernatural, Nashville, Modern Family, Arrow, Suburgatory

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Balaji K

Guys with Kids is no better than Animal Practice.

At least, Nashville was steady.

The Middle is impressive.

I didn't think the Modern Family was great last night but it's a ratings monster. I've noticed it doing better than The Big Bang Theory in the fall while the later does better than the former in the spring. I wonder why.

October 25, 2012 at 12:22PM EST Reply to Comment
- jc I'm actually surprised that Chicago Fire is holding up so well and even increasing. Not saying its doing great, but given the weaker lead in its getting compared to Nashville's lead in, I think its doing decently. Nashville otoh, whilst it was steady this week, 6.5 m viewers and a 2 rating for such a hyped show after only 3 weeks has to be a disappointment for ABC. Dan, what sort of figure for Nashville do you think will deem it to be a 'success'? I like the show, but I nowhere near think its as good as the critical hype.
  October 25, 2012 at 12:42PM EST
- dan Balaji - I suspect it comes down to which show has more overlap with "American Idol," which comes in in the spring and changes the game, even if it doesn't necessarily have the same power it used to.
  
  And "Guys with Kids" is in-house and comes from Jimmy Fallon's people, while "Animal Practice" does not and that's pretty much why one is dead and the other is limping along kinda...
  
  -Daniel
  October 25, 2012 at 12:44PM EST
- dan JC - I've always said that "Nashville" was a show with fantastic elements that isn't close to a fantastic show and after three episodes, my opinion hasn't changed. So no critical hype from me!
  
  Regarding where "Nashville" stands... I'd say that if you'd told ABC in September that after three weeks it would be at 6.5 mill and a 2.0, they'd have been kinda concerned. If you'd told ABC last week that "Nashville" would still be at 6.5 million and a 2.0 this week, they'd have been overjoyed. It's all relative! In the new math, these numbers are just fine. They may not be "just fine" for a renewal for Season 2, but they're definitely just fine for now and to probably get ABC to order some more scripts (like ABC did with "Last Resort"). Obviously if "Nashville" plunges again next week, things will look different...
  
  -Daniel
  October 25, 2012 at 12:48PM EST
Rena Moretti

18-49 is the the "key demo". Networks don't give out free viewers if they're outside a demo group.

As for Nashville, it is still a disaster even if it stabilized at an awful level.

Consistently bad is not a quality.

Also Modern Family is not a "ratings monster" as one of the comments said. Its ratings are barely 60% of what NCIS does, and NCIS does it wwith no promo push, while ABC pushes Modern Family like crazy every season to try and make it look like they have a real hit.
October 25, 2012 at 3:47PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Rena - I'm confused by the comparison you're making between "NCIS" and "Modern Family" and their ratings. There's no rational definition under which "Modern Family" is not "a real hit."
  
  And I'm also confused by the second sentence about "free viewers."
  
  And no, "Nashville" is not a disaster if it stabilizes at this level. It's really just not.
  
  -Daniel
  October 25, 2012 at 3:53PM EST
- Balaji K I think you're referring to "total viewers" when you wrote that Modern Family barely gets 60% of what NCIS does. Modern Family gets 70% the number that NCIS gets as total viewers. While NCIS itself is a ratings monster, Modern Family gets a better 18-49 demo rating. (NCIS got 3.2 this week as against MF's 4.9 which might get adjusted to 5.0 in the final ratings).
  
  As for Nashville, all shows at 10PM except Revolution, aren't doing that well this fall.
  October 25, 2012 at 4:15PM EST
Rena Moretti

If ABC is "overjoyed" with NAshville it's because it's given up of getting an actual hit.

Nashville's numbers are disastrous. The only reason it (and most of the new shows this season) is still on the air is because the networks are so broke, they have no bench of shows ready to go like they used to.

The networks fail because they forgot how to find hits (hint, it's not by casting a bad actress like Hayden Panettiere and calling it a victory when the ratings stabilize in bomb territory).
October 25, 2012 at 3:50PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Rena - No. Not really. ABC has at least three dramas set for midseason and the reason they're not pulling "Nashville" is because A) Its numbers aren't disastrous. They're just not good. B) It's the most critically acclaimed new drama of the season.
  
  Anyway, though...
  
  -Daniel
  October 25, 2012 at 3:56PM EST

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TV Ratings: 'Modern Family' is strong, but World Series Game 1 leads FOX on Wednesday