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[10/18/12 - 08:29 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: CBS Slips Past ABC to Top Viewers, Demos
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, october 17, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 20 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to live programming which contains multiple program elements, all FOX ratings are unreliable and should not be used. Official timings were MLB Rain Delay Coverage (8-8:02pm), BEN AND KATE repeat (8:02-8:32pm), MLB Rain Delay Coverage (8:33-8:40pm), THE X FACTOR (8:40-9:47pm), THE MINDY PROJECT repeat (9:47-9:56pm) and NLCS Game 3 Conclusion (9:56-10:45pm).]

CBS (10.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) slipped into the top spot on Wednesday with its mix of "Survivor: Philippines" (10.11 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #4), "Criminal Minds" (11.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #7).

ABC (8.01 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) then was a competitive second place with its lineup of "The Middle" (8.35 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #6), "The Neighbors" (6.50 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T10), "Modern Family" (12.14 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.6, #1), the return of "Suburgatory" (7.60 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3) and week two of "Nashville" (6.75 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.0, #9).

FOX (5.53 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) then offered up its combination of (half-hour results only) "MLB Rain Delay/Ben & Kate" (4.92 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12), "Ben & Kate/MLB Rain Delay/The X Factor" (5.43 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T10), "The X Factor" (7.25 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.6, #5), "The X Factor/The Mindy Project/NLCS, Game 3" (6.50 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #8), "NLCS, Game 3" (5.04 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12) and "NLCS, Game 3/Various" (4.04 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 1.2, #18).

Next up was NBC (5.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) with new episodes of "Animal Practice" (3.80 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T19), "Guys With Kids" (4.29 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.4, #16) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.31 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12) alongside week two of "Chicago Fire" (5.91 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.5, #15).

And finally, week two of "Arrow" (3.48 million viewers, #19; adults 18-49: 1.3, #17) and a new "Supernatural" (2.19 million viewers, #20; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T19) on The CW (2.83 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5) finished out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Arrow" delivered a 1.0 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Supernatural" a 1.0 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+4.17% - The Middle
+3.85% - Survivor: Philippines
+3.33% - Criminal Minds
0.00% - The Neighbors
0.00% - Guys With Kids
0.00% - Arrow
0.00% - Supernatural
-2.13% - Modern Family
-7.69% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-9.09% - Animal Practice
-11.11% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-21.05% - Chicago Fire
-28.57% - Nashville

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+225.00% - Arrow (vs. Ringer (Repeat))
+33.33% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Harry's Law)
+25.00% - Supernatural (vs. America's Next Top Model)
+16.67% - Guys With Kids (vs. Whitney (Repeat))
-6.67% - Suburgatory (vs. Happy Endings)
-7.69% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-13.79% - The Middle
-17.86% - Modern Family
-18.18% - Survivor: Philippines
-20.00% - Nashville (vs. Revenge)
-20.51% - Criminal Minds
-28.57% - Chicago Fire (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
-38.71% - The Neighbors (vs. Suburgatory)
-52.38% - Animal Practice (vs. Up All Night)

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

* In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.4/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.5/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.8/6.

* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.7/4.

* At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) trailed CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.3/2 in 18-49 with an encore) trailed "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

* At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/19/11):

Coverage of the "World Series, Game 1" (12.91 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #T2) put FOX (12.91 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) in front on Wednesday.

CBS (11.63 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) then took home the silver with fresh installments of "Survivor: South Pacific" (11.13 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4), "Criminal Minds" (13.11 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #T2) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.64 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #8).

Sharing second place was ABC (8.90 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) and its lineup of "The Middle" (9.03 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #7), "Suburgatory" (8.75 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5), "Modern Family" (12.85 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (6.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 3.0, #6) and "Revenge" (7.94 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9).

Next up was NBC (6.88 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) and its struggling mix of "Up All Night" (5.64 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10), a repeat of "Whitney" (4.10 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T12), "Harry's Law" (8.18 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T12) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.58 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10).

And finally, an encore of "Ringer" (1.22 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) led into a new "America's Next Top Model" (1.89 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #14) on The CW (1.56 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Ringer" posted a 0.7 rating while "Top Model" delivered a 1.4 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+5.41% - Criminal Minds
+5.00% - Up All Night
+3.57% - The Middle
+3.33% - Suburgatory
+3.12% - Survivor: South Pacific
0.00% - Harry's Law
0.00% - America's Next Top Model
0.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
0.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-1.75% - Modern Family
-7.41% - Revenge
-9.09% - Happy Endings

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+78.57% - Revenge (vs. The Whole Truth)
+47.62% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+40.00% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+33.33% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
+19.15% - Modern Family
+18.18% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+11.54% - The Middle
+8.33% - Criminal Minds
-3.23% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
-5.71% - Survivor: South Pacific
-12.50% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
-53.85% - Harry's Law (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.8/7 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/5 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.2/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/4 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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