Fast National ratings for Wednesday, March 5, 2014.
“American Idol” got a small performance show uptick to narrowly avoid the ignominy of losing to “Survivor” and “Criminal Minds” among young viewers, while also leading FOX to slim victories in most key measures on Wednesday night.
Despite leading FOX to wins, “Idol” was neither the top show overall nor among young viewers on Wednesday.
The “Idol” decline-bump, up among young viewers but not overall, was fitting for an up-and-down Wednesday
There were declines for “Survivor,” “CSI,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Chicago PD,” “Arrow” and “The Tomorrow People.” While “Mixology” was down in its second week for ABC, the declines probably could have been worse, though expect a bigger fall in Finals.
“Mixology” was, in fact, ABC's only dropper as “The Middle,” “Suburgatory,” “Modern Family” and “Nashville” all rose.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 2.7 rating for Wednesday night, topping CBS' 2.2 rating in the key demographic. ABC was a close third with a 1.9 key demo rating, followed by NBC's 1.5 key demo rating and the 0.6 key demo rating for The CW.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 10.51 million viewers and a 6.4 rating/10 share for Wednesday, holding off CBS' 6.3/10 and 10.06 million viewers. There was a big drop to ABC's 3.8/6 and 5.985 million viewers, which was just ahead of the 3.7/6 and 5.62 million viewers for NBC. The CW averaged a 1.2/2 and 1.76 million viewers.
8 p.m. – “American Idol” led the 8 p.m. hour with 10.44 million viewers and a 2.8 rating among adults 18-49, beating out the 9.62 million viewers and 2.4 key demo rating for CBS' “Survivor: Cagayan.” ABC was third with “The Middle” (7.15 million and a 1.9 key demo) and “Suburgatory” (5.57 million and 1.7 key demo). NBC's “Revolution” averaged 4.77 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, safely ahead of the series low 2.19 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for The CW's “Arrow.”
9 p.m. – “Criminal Minds” took over first in the 9 p.m. hour with 11.37 million viewers and finished a close second with a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS. “American Idol” was second with 10.58 million viewers, but held on to win the hour with a 2.7 key demo rating. ABC's “Modern Family” (9.01 million and a 3.3 key demo) was the night's top show in the key demo, but the network slipped to third for the hour thanks to “Mixology” (4.48 million and a 1.6 key demo rating). NBC's “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” was third with 6.03 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating. On The CW, “The Tomorrow People” averaged 1.33 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” led the 10 p.m. hour with 9.19 million viewers and a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 for CBS. NBC's “Chicago PD” was low with 6.07 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating in second, topping the 4.85 million viewers and 1.4 key demo rating for ABC's “Nashville.”
[UPDATE: “Mixology” did not, in fact, go down in Final Live+Same Day ratings. In fact, it went up 0.1 to a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49. That means that it retained 100 percent of last week's Live+Same Day demo audience. ABC also saw “Modern Family” and “Nashville” go up by 0.1. The CW's “Arrow” went up to a 0.8 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.