The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS December 21

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>Last night FOX hit a 3 rating from 8-10 pm, tough to do in Christmas week and doubling the rating it received on the same night last year.  The other networks were in the low-1 rating range, within a tenth or two of last year’s delivery.

             Nightly Adult 18-49 Rating
Wednesday    FOX    ABC    CBS    NBC
12.21.2011   3.0    1.4    1.3    1.2
12.22.2010   1.5    1.3    1.1    1.3

FOX won the night going away with the penultimate episode of The X Factor.  While not the juggernaut that many, including Simon Cowell, had predicted, X Factor has provided a solid base — and many time period improvements — for FOX in what is usually a tough fall before American Idol arrives.  X Factor peaked last night between 9:00-9:30 at a 3.7 number, a number it might approach in tonight’s finale.  Last year on this night: Human Target repeat (1.4) and Million Dollar Drop (1.6).

ABC repeated its entire Wednesday lineup last night and managed a second-place 1.4 rating from 8-11 pm.  On this night last year (Wednesday, December 22, 2010), ABC averaged a 1.3 rating with three comedy repeats and a repeat special: The Middle (1.5), Better with You (1.5), Modern Family (1.9) and CMA Country Christmas (1.0). 

CBS had solid repeat performances from its 9 and 10 pm dramas, but the night was ruined by an old-fashioned Christmas special that is even too old-fashioned for CBS viewers: A Home for the Holidays with Martina McBride (0.8 rating).  The low-rated 8 pm hour pulled CBS down to a 1.3 rating for the night, just behind ABC.  On this date last year CBS averaged an even worse 1.1 rating: A Home for the Holidays (0.7), Criminal Minds (1.5) and The Defenders (1.1).

NBC pulled into fourth place with a 1.2 rating for the night.  Although Who’s Still Standing? turned in a 1.7 at 8 pm, repeats of A Michael Buble Christmas and Law & Order SVU crashed (each a 1.0 rating).  The three-day track for Who’s Still Standing? (1.5…1.9…1.7) indicates the game show might be finding its level in the high-1 rating range.  Last year on this night: Undercovers (1.1), Law & Order SVU (1.2) and Law & Order SVU (1.7).       

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