Barbara Walters 10 MOST FASCINATING PEOPLE Earns 2nd Place in Time Slot

At 8pm, ABC's The Middle defeated NBC's Whitney in the half-hour by wide margins, leading by 97% in Total Viewers and by 57% in Adults 18-49. In addition, the ABC comedy ran as the 2nd-most-watched TV show in the slot, outdrawing Fox's The X Factor, while topping the season's penultimate episode of Survivor: Philippines by 23% in Adults 18-34.

At 8:30pm, ABC's The Neighbors towered over its freshman comedy competition, outdelivering NBC's replay Guys with Kids by 104% in Total Viewers and by 60% in Adults 18-49. The ABC Family comedy stood as the #2 broadcast show in the half-hour with Teens 12-17.

At 9pm, ABC's Modern Family shot to the top of its half-hour in Adults 18-49, beating CBS Criminal Minds by 40%, Fox's The X Factor by 50% and NBC's Take it All by 320%.

ABC's Modern Family qualified as Wednesday's #1 TV show for its 9th straight original telecast across all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54).

From 9:30-11pm, ABC's Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012 earned second place in its time period with Total Viewers and all key Adult demos (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54). The ABC News special highlighting some of the year's most prominent names in entertainment, sports, politics and popular culture, beat out NBC's Chicago Fire by 3.0 million viewers and by 50% in Adults 18-49 during the 10 o'clock hour. In addition, the program won the final hour of the night over CSI across all key Women demographics (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Gen. David Petraeus was named the most fascinating person of 2012.

Gaining audience during each half hour of its 90-minute broadcast, Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012 generated ABC's biggest audience in time period in 9 weeks (since 10/10/12), representing its 2nd largest audience this season.