Fast National ratings for Wednesday, January 11, 2012.
CBS only got a tepid (and steadily dropping) audience for its People’s Choice Awards telecast, but that was enough to give the network a slim overall Wednesday win, while “Modern Family” led ABC to an easy win among young viewers.
In other ratings news, NBC’s new 8 p.m. comedy block got out to an encouraging — by NBC standards, of course — start, as did the final season of “One Tree Hill” on The CW.
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 3.2 rating, comfortably beating CBS’ 2.3 rating in the key demographic. NBC’s 1.9 rating was good for a close third, topping FOX’s 1.1 rating and the 0.6 rating for The CW.
Overall, though, CBS averaged an estimated 8.88 million viewers to go with a 5.8 rating/9 share, edging out ABC’s 5.5/9 and 8.83 million viewers. NBC stayed in the hunt with a 5.1/8 and 7.75 million viewers. FOX’s 1.8/3 and 3.045 million viewers and The CW’s 0.8/1 and 1.29 million viewers trailed.
[Univision averaged 3.13 million viewers and a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 for Wednesday night.]
8 p.m. – ABC’s “The Middle” (9.59 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo) and “Suburgatory” (8.96 million viewers and a 2.9 key demo) started primetime in first. CBS was second overall with 8.87 million viewers for a “Criminal Minds” repeat, which finished third with a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49. NBC’s “Whitney” (6.06 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo) and “Are You There, Chelsea?” (6.43 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo) probably made the network happy for one week, before next week’s “American Idol” premiere complicates things. FOX’s “Mobbed” repeat averaged 2.73 million and a 0.9 key demo rating. On The CW, “One Tree Hill” returned with 1.75 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating.
9 p.m. – Overall, CBS won the 9 p.m. hour with 9.85 million viewers for the People’s Choice Awards, coming in second for the hour with a 2.7 key demo rating. ABC was second overall and first in the demo with “Modern Family” (12.33 million viewers and a 5.1 key demo) and “Happy Endings” (7.07 million viewers and a 3.1 key demo). NBC’s “Harry’s Law” averaged 8.65 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating in third. A new “Mobbed” brought 3.34 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo to FOX. The CW’s “One Tree Hill” repeat averaged 824,000 viewers.
10 p.m. – NBC — Yes, NBC — won the 10 p.m. hour overall with 8.36 million viewers for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” though “SVU” was third with a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’ People’s Choice awards telecast slipped to 7.91 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo rating. ABC’s “Revenge” was third with 7.51 million viewers and won the hour with a 2.4 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.