The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS March 7

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>American Idol is still way down from last year, but last night’s episode ticked from the past few weeks.  But The Voice also had a good week — so Idol remains behind the pace of the upstart singing show.  NBC shuffled Wednesday again, giving Rock Center yet another time period.  But the news magazine and NBC Wednesday in general remain stuck in the mud.  Luckily few viewers were there to see it last night, but in the credit window of SVU a dated 30-second promo for Celebrity Apprentice ran, announcing the show was “coming February 19”.  Full on-air promo details in our next Promo Watch update on Friday.

             Nightly Adult 18-49 Rating
Wednesday    FOX    CBS    ABC    NBC
03.07.2012   5.6    2.2    1.7    1.2    THIS WEEK
02.29.2012   5.0    2.9    2.9    1.2    LAST WEEK
03.09.2011   9.1    2.9    1.9    1.2    LAST YEAR

FOX’s American Idol popped back up this week to a 5.6 preliminary 18-49 rating, its best Wednesday number since February 15 (although still lagging behind this week’s 6.2 for The Voice).  (In the official nationals Idol will probably go up up to a 5.7, which would be a 37% drop from last year’s episode — a tad better than last week’s 43% decline but still stunning.)  Idol built steadily throughout the show: 5.0… 5.6… 5.9… 6.0 by half hour.  Last year on this night, American Idol aired for two hours (9.1), growing by each half hour: 8.1, 9.3, 9.1 and 9.8.          

With repeats against it on ABC, Survivor ticked up three tenths to the highest rating of this cycle.  Criminal Minds and CSI were in repeats.  Last year on this night: Survivor (3.8), Criminal Minds (1.9) and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2.8).  

ABC’s comedies from 8:00-9:30, while Happy Endings (2.0) was an original episode that also rated like a repeat telecast.  At 10 pm ABC News provided Revenge for Real, real-life stories of crime in the Hamptons, which averaged a 1.4 rating — better than a Revenge repeat but nothing extraordinary.  Last year on this night: The Middle (1.4), The Middle (1.4), Modern Family (2.5), Mr Sunshine (2.4) and Off the Map (1.9).   

NBC changed things up a bit, giving Rock Center its third time period.  Now at 10 pm, the struggling Brian WIlliams news magazine averaged a 1.0 rating (near the high-water mark for the young show but still incredibly weak).  SVU repeats have been moved down to 9 pm while Rock Center gets its trial run at 10, and the crime drama also scored a 1.0 rating, below the mid-1 rating SVU repeats at 10 have scored.  Last year on this night: Minute to Win It (1.0), Law & Order SVU (0.9) and Law & Order SVU (1.5).
         

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