Fast National ratings for Wednesday, February 26, 2014.
Airing without Olympics competition, “American Idol” was flat among young viewers and rose slightly overall, leading FOX to primetime wins on Wednesday night.
“Idol” was able to hold off a solid premiere for CBS' latest “Survivor” installment, though it lost to “Modern Family” among young viewers in their head-to-head half-hour. ABC couldn't top FOX for that hour, though, because in one of the season's least surprising developments, “Mixology” didn't do a particularly good job of holding onto its lead-in. It should be noted that “Modern Family” was also very low for the night, so comparing “Mixology” to other Wednesday 9:30 comedies that had better lead-ins might not be especially illustrative.
Meanwhile, NBC didn't get a very good return from “Revolution,” the numbers were better for “Law & Order: SVU” and particularly “Chicago PD” later in the night.
“Revolution,” “Nashville,” “The Middle” and “Suburgatory” all tied series lows last night, but “Mixology” was the only show to deliver an actual series low. [Yes. That was a wee joke.]
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 2.6 rating for Wednesday night, edging out CBS' 2.5 rating in the key demographic. ABC and NBC tied for third with a 1.8 key demo rating, while The CW did a 0.7 key demo rating for the night.
Overall, FOX had a tiny bit more breathing room with 10.64 million viewers and a 6.6 rating/10 share for Wednesday primetime, topping the 9.69 million viewers and 6.1/10 for CBS. There was a drop to NBC's 6.77 million viewers and 4.4/7 and to ABC's 3.9/6 and 5.94 million viewers. The CW averaged 1.98 million viewers and a 1.3/2 for the night.
8 p.m. – “American Idol” started primetime in first for FOX with 10.63 million viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' “Survivor: Cagayan” averaged 9.94 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo rating, up a hair in both measures from last spring's “Survivor” premiere and also up in viewers (but down a hair in the demo) from the fall premiere. ABC was third with “The Middle” (7.11 million and a 1.8 key demo) and “Suburgatory” (5.3 million and a 1.5 key demo), both way down with the tougher competition in the hour. NBC's “Revolution” averaged 4.59 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating for fourth, beating the 2.46 million viewers and 0.9 key demo rating for The CW's “Arrow.”
9 p.m. – “American Idol” was mostly steady in the 9 p.m. hour with 10.65 million viewers and a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 for FOX. CBS' second “Survivor” hour also stayed fairly steady with 9.61 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo rating in second. NBC's “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” was third with 7.7 million viewers and fourth with a 2.0 key demo rating. “Modern Family” (8.57 million and a 3.1 key demo rating) delivered the night's top key demo rating, but was followed by “Mixology” (5.22 million and a 1.8 key demo), which ABC is boasting did the network's best demos in the time period since October, which isn't saying much. [The “Mixology” number was 38 percent below what “How To Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)” premiered with last spring, but that aired after a “Modern Family” episode that did a 4.1 in the key demo, so I see no point in condemning “Mixology” more than necessary. It's not a good premiere number. We'll see what next week looks like.] The CW's “The Tomorrow People” averaged 1.51 million viewers and a 0.5 key demo rating.
10 p.m. – CBS closed primetime in first with 9.5 million viewers and a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 for “Criminal Minds.” NBC's “Chicago PD” had a big night with 8.025 million viewers and a 2.2 key demo rating. ABC's “Nashville” averaged 4.72 million viewers, but only a 1.2 key demo rating.
[UPDATE: Final Live+Same Day numbers weren't kind to “Mixology,” which slipped to a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 and 4.98 million viewers. “American Idol” got a tiny bump to a 2.7 in the key demo and to 10.785 million viewers. “Criminal Minds” ticked down to a 2.2 key demo rating, which left it in a tie with “Chicago PD” for the demo crown in the 10 p.m. hour, while “Survivor” also ticked down to 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.