or


[12/09/10 - 08:47 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: "Survivor," "Minds" Keep CBS in Front
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, december 8, 2010)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

New episodes of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.17 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2), "Criminal Minds" (14.22 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #3) and "The Defenders" (10.50 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.0, #9) lifted CBS (12.30 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) to the top spot on Wednesday.

ABC (6.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T2) and NBC (7.13 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.4, #T2) split the silver then as the latter offered up night two of "The Sing-Off" (7.59 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T4) and a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.22 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.8, #11).

The Alphabet then served up new episodes of "The Middle" (8.82 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #6), "Better With You" (7.33 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.2, #8), "Modern Family" (10.97 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.1, #1) and "Cougar Town" (6.53 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T4) followed by repeats of "Modern Family" (4.62 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.9, #10) and "Cougar Town" (3.40 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13).

Next up was FOX (5.50 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4) with a new "Human Target" (5.69 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.6, #12) and the penultimate week of "Hell's Kitchen" (5.32 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 2.3, #7).

And finally, a rebroadcast of "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" (2.44 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #14) led into the new special "Fashion Forward: Making It!" (0.86 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) on The CW (1.65 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): The Middle (19.00% vs. 11/24/10), Better With You (15.80% vs. 11/24/10), Modern Family (10.80% vs. 11/24/10), The Defenders (5.30% vs. 11/17/10), Cougar Town (4.00% vs. 11/24/10), Human Target (0.00%), Survivor: Nicaragua (0.00%), Criminal Minds (-5.40% vs. 11/17/10), Hell's Kitchen (-11.50%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.9/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/8). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/4) on NBC.


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/9/09):

CBS (11.58 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) held off the competition on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (7.71 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.2, #12), "Gary Unmarried" (7.16 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.4, #9), "Criminal Minds" (14.31 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #T1) and "CSI: NY" (12.99 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #4).

The silver then went to ABC (8.94 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T2) with its mix of "Shrek the Halls" (8.53 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #7), "The Middle" (7.67 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.5, #8), "Modern Family" (9.62 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.8, #T1), "Cougar Town" (6.92 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.8, #6) and "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009" (10.46 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5).

Sharing second place was FOX (7.38 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #T2) with a new "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.66 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T10) and the fall finale of "Glee" (8.10 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.6, #3).

Next up was NBC (6.54 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4) with new episodes of "Mercy" (7.14 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.8, #13), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.97 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T10) and "The Jay Leno Show" (4.53 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #14).

And finally, repeats of "Gossip Girl" (0.91 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #16) and "The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" (1.68 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.7, #15) on The CW (1.29 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





  [december 2010]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/03/25 - 02:17 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting '25 MLB Wild Card Series
Across eight games, the MLB Wild Card Series is averaging 4.4 million viewers, up 65% from last year.

[10/03/25 - 12:07 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues to Shatter Records - Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005
Plus: "High Potential" hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show's comparable third episode from last fall.

[10/02/25 - 04:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever
Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.

[10/02/25 - 02:51 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series
Coverage of Red Sox versus Yankees averaged 6.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.9 million.

[10/02/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" Season Premieres Hit Their Largest 3-Day Streaming Viewerships Ever
The "Survivor" season 49 premiere grew to 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership; while "The Amazing Race" season 38 premiere grew to 4.01 million viewers.

[10/02/25 - 09:38 AM]
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" Scores on Friday Nights with Biggest Total Viewer Audience in Nearly Two Years
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" stood as the No. 1 program of the night, rising by double digits in Total Viewers over its previous season premiere.

[10/01/25 - 10:27 AM]
"Big Brother" Season Finale Is Most-Watched Episode in Over Three Years
The finale was up +33% from its year ago finale and up +33% from this season's average.

[09/30/25 - 03:44 PM]
ESPN and ABC Win College Football's Week 5; "College GameDay's" Most-Viewed Season Rolls On
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season.

[09/30/25 - 02:08 PM]
Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages 26.9 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens with Best Four-Week Audience Average in 20 Seasons of NBC "SNF"
The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).

[09/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 22: "Wayward" Lures Viewers at No. 1, "KPop Demon Hunters" Sets Top 10 Record
New on Netflix this week is "House of Guinness," a historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which debuted at No. 3 on the English TV list with 5.2 million views.

[09/30/25 - 10:24 AM]
"High Potential" Season Premiere Vaults to Nearly 16 Million in First Week Across Platforms
This marks ABC's best season premiere for a drama among Total Viewers in five years.

[09/29/25 - 06:06 AM]
ESPN's 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent from Last Year
Coverage delivered 1.8 million viewers on average across 30 games this season.

[09/26/25 - 01:11 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Week Two Delivers Over 5 Million Total Viewers Rising Over Season Premiere for First Time in 14 Years
Once again, the show led its time period and stood as the No. 1 show of the night in Total Viewers (5.46 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.02 rating).

[09/25/25 - 02:05 PM]
Viewers Have Watched More Than 8 Billion Minutes of "Big Brother" This Summer - Up +27% from Last Year
Multiplatform average episode viewership grew to 5.1 million, up +23% versus last year in 35-days of viewing, outpacing the competition.

[09/24/25 - 02:47 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Returned on Tuesday to 6.26 Million Total Viewers on Broadcast, According to Initial Live+Same Day Measurement
In addition to linear ratings, the monologue has garnered more than 26 million views across YouTube and social platforms.