CBS Slips into Top Spot in Wednesday Ratings Race

CBS (10.81 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) slipped into the top spot on Wednesday with its mix of "Survivor: Philippines" (10.11 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #4), "Criminal Minds" (11.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.56 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #7).

Here are the other highlights of the 20 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (8.01 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) then was a competitive second place with its lineup of "The Middle" (8.35 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #6), "The Neighbors" (6.50 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T10), "Modern Family" (12.14 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.6, #1), the return of "Suburgatory" (7.60 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.8, #3) and week two of "Nashville" (6.75 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.0, #9).

FOX (5.53 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) then offered up its combination of (half-hour results only) "MLB Rain Delay/Ben & Kate" (4.92 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12), "Ben & Kate/MLB Rain Delay/The X Factor" (5.43 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T10), "The X Factor" (7.25 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.6, #5), "The X Factor/The Mindy Project/NLCS, Game 3" (6.50 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.3, #8), "NLCS, Game 3" (5.04 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12) and "NLCS, Game 3/Various" (4.04 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 1.2, #18).

Next up was NBC (5.42 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) with new episodes of "Animal Practice" (3.80 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T19), "Guys With Kids" (4.29 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.4, #16) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.31 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12) alongside week two of "Chicago Fire" (5.91 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.5, #15).

And finally, week two of "Arrow" (3.48 million viewers, #19; adults 18-49: 1.3, #17) and a new "Supernatural" (2.19 million viewers, #20; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T19) on The CW (2.83 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5) finished out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Arrow" delivered a 1.0 rating at 8:00/7:00c and "Supernatural" a 1.0 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+4.17% - The Middle
+3.85% - Survivor: Philippines
+3.33% - Criminal Minds
0.00% - The Neighbors
0.00% - Guys With Kids
0.00% - Arrow
0.00% - Supernatural
-2.13% - Modern Family
-7.69% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-9.09% - Animal Practice
-11.11% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-21.05% - Chicago Fire
-28.57% - Nashville
Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+225.00% - Arrow (vs. Ringer (Repeat))
+33.33% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Harry's Law)
+25.00% - Supernatural (vs. America's Next Top Model)
+16.67% - Guys With Kids (vs. Whitney (Repeat))
-6.67% - Suburgatory (vs. Happy Endings)
-7.69% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-13.79% - The Middle
-17.86% - Modern Family
-18.18% - Survivor: Philippines
-20.00% - Nashville (vs. Revenge)
-20.51% - Criminal Minds
-28.57% - Chicago Fire (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
-38.71% - The Neighbors (vs. Suburgatory)
-52.38% - Animal Practice (vs. Up All Night)
In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):
* In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.4/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.5/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.8/6.

* In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.7/3 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.7/4.

* At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.2/4 in metered-market households with an encore) trailed CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.4/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.3/2 in 18-49 with an encore) trailed "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

* At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/19/11):

Coverage of the "World Series, Game 1" (12.91 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #T2) put FOX (12.91 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) in front on Wednesday.

CBS (11.63 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) then took home the silver with fresh installments of "Survivor: South Pacific" (11.13 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4), "Criminal Minds" (13.11 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #T2) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.64 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #8).

Sharing second place was ABC (8.90 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) and its lineup of "The Middle" (9.03 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #7), "Suburgatory" (8.75 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5), "Modern Family" (12.85 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (6.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 3.0, #6) and "Revenge" (7.94 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9).

Next up was NBC (6.88 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) and its struggling mix of "Up All Night" (5.64 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10), a repeat of "Whitney" (4.10 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T12), "Harry's Law" (8.18 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T12) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.58 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10).

And finally, an encore of "Ringer" (1.22 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) led into a new "America's Next Top Model" (1.89 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #14) on The CW (1.56 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Ringer" posted a 0.7 rating while "Top Model" delivered a 1.4 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+5.41% - Criminal Minds
+5.00% - Up All Night
+3.57% - The Middle
+3.33% - Suburgatory
+3.12% - Survivor: South Pacific
0.00% - Harry's Law
0.00% - America's Next Top Model
0.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
0.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-1.75% - Modern Family
-7.41% - Revenge
-9.09% - Happy Endings
Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+78.57% - Revenge (vs. The Whole Truth)
+47.62% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+40.00% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+33.33% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
+19.15% - Modern Family
+18.18% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+11.54% - The Middle
+8.33% - Criminal Minds
-3.23% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
-5.71% - Survivor: South Pacific
-12.50% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
-53.85% - Harry's Law (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):
In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.8/7 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/5 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.2/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/4 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research