Fast National ratings for Wednesday, March 21, 2012.
FOX’s “American Idol” suffered another week of moderate declines, but still dominated Wednesday night in all key measures.
Generally Wednesday performers were a mixed bag. CBS’ “Criminal Minds” and NBC’s “Whitney” and “Are You There, Chelsea?” were among the shows rising week-to-week. Meanwhile, CBS’ “Survivor” and “CSI” took drops and NBC’s “Bent” premiere was exactly as weak as the network could have expected based on the dead-end time period and tepid promotion.
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 4.9 rating for the night, far ahead of CBS’ 2.8 rating in the key demographic. ABC’s 1.5 rating was third, with NBC’s 1.0 rating and the 0.6 rating for The CW following.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 16.55 million viewers to go with a 10.1 rating/16 share. CBS was a solid, but distant, second with a 7.0/12 and 11.11 million viewers. Then there was a big drop to ABC’s 3.2/5 and 4.86 million viewers and to NBC’s 2.1/4 and 3.155 million viewers. The CW averaged 1.36 million viewers and a 0.9/2 for the night.
[Univision averaged 3.59 million viewers and a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 for Wednesday night.]
8 p.m. – The “American Idol” performances from the Top 10 began primetime in first with 15.515 million viewers and a 4.5 rating among adults 18-49. CBS was second with “Survivor: One World,” which failed to capitalize on a week of breathless promotion and averaged 10.2 million viewers and a 2.7 key demo rating. ABC’s repeats of “The Middle” and “Suburgatory” averaged 4.67 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating. NBC saw both “Whitney” (4.22 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating) and “Are You There, Chelsea?” (3.49 million and a 1.4 key demo rating) go up on Wednesday. The CW’s “One Tree Hill” averaged 1.45 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating, basically flat.
9 p.m. – “American Idol” rose to 17.59 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 in its second hour for FOX. CBS’ “Criminal Minds” recovered the audience it lost last week with 11.9 million viewers and a 3.2 key demo rating. ABC was third with a “Modern Family” repeat (5.64 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating) and very low numbers for a new “Happy Endings” (4.12 million and a 1.8 key demo rating). NBC’s “Bent” drew 2.82 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating for its premiere and 2.42 million and a 0.9 key demo rating for its second airing. The CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” averaged 1.275 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating, up a hair from last week.
10 p.m. – CBS took over first for the 10 p.m. hour with 11.22 million viewers and a 2.5 rating among adults 18-49 for “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” ABC’s encore of the “Missing” premiere averaged 5.03 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating. NBC’s “Rock Center” averaged only 2.97 million viewers and a 0.7 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.