The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS May 23 — The End of the May Sweep and the Broadcast Season

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American Idol ended its season down a third from last year’s finale, but still over a 6 rating — enough to win the night handily and put the May Sweep away.  Look for a Sweep ratings update posting soon.

FOX ended its season with the two-hour finale of American Idol, averaging a preliminary 6.1 rating with Adults 18-49 (probably going up to a 6.2 and maybe even a 6.3 in the official nationals).  The finale certainly kicked up from recent episodes which were in the high-4 rating range but not quite to the season premiere level above a 7 rating.  The show started at a 5.1 rating last night in the 8:00 half hour and built to a 6.8 rating from 9:30-10:00.  Last year on this night, American Idol aired for two hours (9.2).  If last night’s official rating is a 6.2, it will be down 33% from last year’s finale, a pretty standard decline for the show this season.

On ABC, the entire night rebounded a bit from last week, finishing the season finale night three tenths of a rating point above the same night last year.  Season finales of The Middle and Modern Family finished just above their season lows, while Don’t Trust the B- and Revenge perked up to their best rating in six weeks.  Revenge contributed a lot to ABC’s gain versus the same night last year, when low-rated comedy filled the 10 pm hour.  Last year on this night:  The Middle (2.2), Modern Family repeat (1.9), Modern Family (4.2), Cougar Town 9:30 (2.0) and 10:00 (2.0) and Happy Endings (1.7).

CBS edged NBC with all repeats from 8-11 pm:  Big Bang Theory (1.5), Two and a Half Men (1.2) and Criminal Minds at 9 and 10 pm (each 1.6 rating).  Last year on this night: Big Bang Theory repeats 8:00 (1.3) and 8:30 (1.6), Criminal Minds repeat (1.4) and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (1.8).

NBC remained stuck in fourth place on Wednesday despite original episodes at 8:00 (Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, 1.5 rating) and 10 pm (1.9 rating).  The real problem was 9 pm, where a repeat SVU only scored a 0.9 rating.  Every time the audience is served SVU at 9 pm on NBC, it says no thank you.  Perhaps they will acquire a taste for the show at the earlier hour this fall as scheduled, but it’s not likely.  Last year on this night:  Minute to Win It repeat (0.8), Minute to Win It repeat (1.0) and Law & Order: LA repeat (1.3).

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