The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS March 14

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>Original episodes graced the schedules of CBS and ABC Wednesday night, bringing ABC back above a 2 rating for the night and CBS close to a 3 rating.  American Idol suffered a bit, down four tenths of a rating point with Adults 18-49 but still running slightly ahead of NBC’s The Voice this week.  NBC sunk below a 1 rating on the night, with Rock Center really struggling at Wednesday 10 pm, its third time period. 

             Nightly Adult 18-49 Rating
Wednesday    FOX    CBS    ABC    NBC
03.14.2012   5.3    2.8    2.2    0.8    THIS WEEK
03.07.2012   5.7    2.2    1.7    1.2    LAST WEEK
03.16.2011   7.6    3.1    1.5    1.1    LAST YEAR

FOX’s American Idol declined four tenths of a rating point from last week to a 5.3 from 8-10 pm last night, but still slightly ahead of this week’s Voice episode (5.2) in what has become a tight Coke vs Pepsi brand battle.  Idol built steadily throughout the show: 4.6… 5.1… 5.6… 5.8 by half hour.  Last year on this night, American Idol aired for two hours (7.6) — so this week’s Wednesday episode is down 30% from last year.          

With original episodes back on ABC this week, Survivor fell back three tenths from last week to match the rating from two weeks ago.  Criminal Minds is on track to set a new season low (and down 22% from the same week last year), while CSI is holding on somewhat above its season low.  Last year on this night: Survivor (3.2), Criminal Minds (3.6) and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2.5).  

ABC’s comedies from 8:00-9:00 are on pace to set season lows, while Modern Family will probably tie its season low if it rounds up in the official nationals as it usually does.  Happy Endings should tie its season low.  At 10 pm Revenge for Real from ABC News wilted to a 1.2 (down from the 1.4 premiere rating last week) but still double the rating of NBC News’ competing news magazine, Rock Center with Brian Williams.  Clearly, relatively inexpensive news programs are not the answer for the tough 10 pm hour, when viewers are watching hit shows on their DVR.  Last year on this night: The Middle repeat (1.1), The Middle repeat (1.3), Modern Family repeat (2.2), Mr Sunshine (1.8) and Off the Map (1.3).   

Week two of NBC’s new Wednesday line-up brought even lower ratings: all the way down to a 0.8 rating from 8-11 pm compared to a 1.2 last week.  Whitney was relatively stable (down two tenths from last week), while Are You There, Chelsea sunk half a rating point, scraping the bottom at a 1.0 rating.  The horror continued with a repeat SVU at 9 pm declining three tenths of a rating point to a 0.7, and Rock Center tied a season low at 10 pm with a 0.6 rating (down four tenths).  Last year on this night: Minute to Win It (1.0), Law & Order SVU repeat (0.9) and Law & Order SVU repeat (1.5).
         

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