Fast National ratings for Wednesday, January 1, 2014.
Perhaps ceding much of the TV audience on 2014’s first night to ESPN’s college football coverage, all five networks aired full slates of repeats on Wednesday night. While “Modern Family” delivered the biggest audience among young viewers, “Criminal Minds” helped CBS dominate overall and eke out a primetime victory in the key demo.
You’d be hard-pressed to find anything truly notable amongst the repeats — FOX, for example, continues to get CW-sized audiences for comedy encores — but maybe ABC could take some minor notes from a “Goldbergs” repeat improving on a “Middle” repeat among young viewers, suggesting plausible compatibility should the network ever want to make an changes.
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged a 1.1 rating for Wednesday night, edging out ABC’s 1.0 rating in the key demographic. NBC averaged a 0.7 key demo rating, followed closely by FOX’s 0.6 key demo rating and the 0.3 key demo rating for The CW.
Overall, CBS won easily with an estimated 6.62 million viewers and a 4.2 rating/7 share for Wednesday primetime. ABC was a distant second with 3.97 million viewers and a 2.5/4, beating NBC’s 2.9 million viewers and 2.0/3. FOX averaged 1.73 million viewers and a 1.1/2, topping the 0.7/1 and 1.06 million viewers for The CW.
8 p.m. – CBS’ overall primetime sweep started with 6.2 million viewers for a “Hawaii Five-0” repeat, which finished second with a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49. ABC was second overall and first in the key demo with repeats of “The Middle” (5.45 million and a 1.2 key demo) and “The Goldbergs” (4.75 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo). NBC’s “Revolution” repeat averaged 2.015 million viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating, compared to the 1.98 million and 0.8 key demo rating for repeats of “Dads” on FOX. The CW’s “Arrow” repeat averaged 1.12 million viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – A “Criminal Minds” repeat averaged 7.04 million viewers to lead the 9 p.m. hour for CBS and tied for first with a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49. ABC was second overall and tied for first in the key demo with repeats of “Modern Family” (5.26 million and a 1.5 key demo) and “Super Fun Night” (3.68 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo). NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” repeat averaged 2.96 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating in third, beating the 1.49 million viewers and 0.5 key demo rating for repeats of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” on FOX. The CW’s “Tomorrow People” repeat averaged 990,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – CBS closed primetime in first with 6.61 million viewers and a 1.0 rating among adults 18-49 for a “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” repeat. NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” repeat rose to 3.71 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating — That’s because “SVU” does better in the 10 p.m. hour, NBC. ABC’s “Nashville” repeat averaged 2.345 million viewers and a 0.5 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.