Fast National ratings for Wednesday, March 26, 2014.
The “Survivor” margin-of-victory over “American Idol” is growing with each week, but with CBS' procedurals in repeats, FOX still won Wednesday night in all key measures.
It was ABC that capitalized on the absence of new “Criminal Minds” and “CSI” episodes, as “Modern Family,” “Mixology” and “Nashville” were all up from their last originals.
In contrast, The CW's “The 100” dropped from last week's premiere, falling behind “Arrow,” but still far exceeding the network's time period averages.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 2.1 rating for Wednesday night, just ahead of the 1.8 rating for ABC in the key demographic. CBS was a close third with a 1.7 key demo rating, far ahead of the 0.8 key demo rating for NBC and The CW.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 9.15 million viewers and a 5.6 rating/9 share for Wednesday night, topping CBS' 8.15 million and 5.1/8. ABC was third with 6.11 million viewers and a 4.0/6, far ahead of the 3.68 million viewers and 2.5/4 for NBC. The CW averaged 2.415 million viewers and a 1.6/3 for the night.
8 p.m. – “Survivor: Cagayan” averaged 9.76 million viewers and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49, down a hair in the key demo and up overall, to win the hour. FOX's “American Idol” was second with 8.65 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating, both down from the same hour last week. ABC was third with “The Middle” (7.07 million and a 1.9 key demo) and a big drop to “Suburgatory” (4.87 million and a 1.4 key demo rating). NBC's somewhat inexplicable “Prince Harry's South Pole Heroes” special averaged a predictably weak 3.75 million viewers for fourth and a 0.8 key demo rating for fifth. The CW's “Arrow” rose from last week with 2.57 million viewers for fifth and came in fourth with a 0.9 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – “American Idol” won the 9 p.m. hour with 9.65 million viewers, but finished second with a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49. ABC was second overall and won the key demo with “Modern Family” (9.69 million viewers and a 3.5 key demo) and a huge drop to “Mixology” (4.9 million and a 1.7 key demo). CBS' repeat of “Criminal Minds” was third with 7.29 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating. A “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” repeat averaged 3.49 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating for NBC, beating the 2.26 million viewers and 0.7 key demo rating for The CW's second episode of “The 100.”
10 p.m. – A “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” repeat won the 10 p.m. hour overall for CBS with 7.39 million viewers and tied for first with a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's “Nashville” averaged 5.06 million viewers for second and tied for the lead with a 1.3 key demo rating. NBC's “Chicago PD” repeat averaged 3.8 million viewers and a 0.9 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.