Fast National ratings for Wednesday, April 20, 2011.
FOX’s “American Idol” and “Breaking In” were both slightly down on Wednesday, but not down enough to keep the network from coasting to yet another easy set of ratings wins.
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 5.8 rating for the night, tops in the key demographic. ABC and CBS tied for second with a 2.2 rating, followed by NBC’s 1.0 rating and the 0.6 rating for The CW.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 18.23 million viewers and a 10.4 rating/17 share. CBS was a distant second with a 5.4/9 and 8.82 million viewers, still comfortably ahead of the 3.8/6 and 6.1 million viewers for ABC. NBC was a distant fourth with 3.655 million viewers and a 2.3/4. That left the CW in fifth with a 0.9/1 and 1.38 million viewers.
8 p.m. – The Top 7 performances for “American Idol” averaged 20.8 million viewers and a 6.5 rating among adults 18-49 to dominate the 8 p.m. hour. CBS’ “Survivor: Redemption Island” was second with just under 10.5 million viewers and a 3.0 demo rating. ABC was third with new episodes of “The Middle” (6.79 million and a 1.8 demo rating) and “Better with You” (5.25 million and a 1.6 demo). NBC’s “Minute to Win It” finished fourth with 3.14 million viewers, beating the 1.19 million for an “America’s Next Top Model” repeat on The CW.
9 p.m. – FOX remained in first for the 9 p.m. hour with “American Idol” (23.77 million and a 7.5 demo rating) and “Breaking In” (7.545 million viewers and a 2.5 demo rating). CBS was second overall with the 8.76 million viewers for a “Criminal Minds” repeat, but third with a 1.9 demo rating. ABC was third overall and second in the key demo with “Modern Family” (9.83 million viewers and a 3.7 demo) and the time period return of “Cougar Town” (6.27 million viewers and a 2.4 demo rating). NBC’s “Minute to Win It” repeat was fourth with 3 million viewers. The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” clip show averaged 1.575 million viewers in fifth.
10 p.m. – A repeat of “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior” averaged 7.19 million viewers to win the 10 p.m. hour for CBS, which also tied for the hour with a 1.7 rating in the key demo. NBC’s repeat of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” finished third in the demo and second overall with 4.83 million viewers. ABC’s two new “Happy Endings” episodes averaged 4.65 million viewers and 3.84 million respectively and tied with CBS for the demo lead.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.