TV Ratings: ‘American Idol’ coasts on Wednesday, while ‘Revenge’ and ‘Apartment 23’ drop

Fast National ratings for Wednesday, April 25, 2012.

FOX and “American Idol” remained untouchable on Wednesday night, as the singing show was basically flat week-to-week and helped the network dominate primetime in all key measures.

Meanwhile, without a new “Modern Family,” ABC’s “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” and “Revenge” both took noticeable drops. 

Finally, before going into the numbers, The CW’s “L.A. Complex” drew more viewers for its Wednesday encore than for its Tuesday premiere, which isn’t meaningful necessarily, but is at least slightly interesting.

For the night, FOX averaged a 4.6 rating among adults 18-49, easily topping the night in the key demographic. CBS was a distant second with a 1.9 rating, followed closely by ABC’s 1.8 rating. NBC averaged a 1.2 key demo rating for the night, better than the 0.4 rating for The CW.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 16.48 million viewers for Wednesday primetime along with a 10.0 rating/16 share. CBS was far back in second with a 5.1/8 and 7.935 million viewers, comfortably ahead of ABC’s 3.7/6 and 5.635 million viewers and NBC’s 3.2/5 and 4.82 million viewers. The CW averaged 908,000 viewers and a 0.6/1.

8 p.m. – “American Idol” averaged 15.66 million viewers and a 4.3 rating among adults 18-49 for the 8 p.m. hour, slightly down from the same hour last week. CBS’ “Survivor: One World” averaged 9.53 million viewers and a 2.6 key demo rating in second. ABC’s repeats of “The Middle” and “Suburgatory” averaged 4.72 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating to beat NBC for the hour. NBC actually was third with “Betty White’s Off Their Rockers” (5.81 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo) and then dropped off a cliff for “Best Friends Forever” (2.72 million and a 0.8 key demo). The CW’s “L.A. Complex” encore averaged 721,000 viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating in fifth.

9 p.m. – FOX stayed in first for the 9 p.m. hour with the 17.3 million viewers and 4.9 rating among adults 18-49 for “American Idol,” which was up from the comparable hour last week. CBS’ repeat of “Criminal Minds” averaged 7.63 million viewers for second overall and a 1.8 key demo rating for third. ABC was third overall and second in the key demo with a “Modern Family” repeat (5.83 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating) and a new “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” (4.885 million and a 2.0 key demo), as the new comedy took a big drop from last week, but still exceeded recent post-“MF”-repeat episodes of “Happy Endings.” NBC was fourth with 3.79 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating in what actually constitutes a strong week for “Rock Center.” The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” was fifth with under 1.1 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating.

10 p.m. – With its lowered lead-in, ABC’s “Revenge” slipped to 6.83 million viewers and a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49, still winning the hour. CBS’ repeat of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” averaged 6.65 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating, compared to the 6.4 million viewers and 1.6 key demo rating for a new “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” on NBC.