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After 2 nights of sinking numbers, stability returned to the ratings on Wednesday.ABC: All in all, a good night. The first half of the evening was down a tenth or so here and there, but the network got help where it mattered. HAPPY ENDINGS is now hitting its stride in viewership as well as in quality: even though its MODERN FAMILY lead-in was at the same level as 2 weeks ago, and facing fresh episodes on the other networks, Ending‘s number was up a very healthy 15% from that night. Even better, the barrage of marketing for REVENGE is paying off with a return to 3 territory for the first time since the series premiere, giving it the time slot victory. (It should help going forward that the show has moved on from its initial “revenge of the week” structure and is now mining a more compelling continuing storyline.)
FOX: The already-renewed-for-next-year X FACTOR will likely score (after national ratings adjustment) just about what it had been doing on Wednesdays pre-baseball, enough to win the night.
CBS: All its numbers were within 10% of where they’d been pre-baseball. Falling behind at 10PM hurts a bit, but CSI is still handily winning the battle of the procedurals.
NBC: For anyone who thought the network’s Wednesday ratings had surely hit their bottom–no such luck. UP ALL NIGHT is now a “success” in the way that Community is (except without the critical raves). HARRY’S LAW‘s 1.1 was at a level with last week’s episode of Psych on USA, as well as the Sunday 10PM rerun of Walking Dead (the initial run practically tripled it), and Harry barely outrated Boardwalk Empire, a show that airs in only 1/3 of US households. SVU was beaten by CSI by a factor of 25%.
CW: AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL was on par with its usual rating.
Tonight, NBC will hope that without the World Series as competition, The Office can bounce back from its lowest Thursday rating ever. Its competition includes FOX’s return of Bones to the schedule, with its much-anticipated pregnancy storyline.
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