NBC's "Whitney" returned to the air to tie its series low on Wednesday night, while "Modern Family" grabbed the night's top ratings and Fox took an overall ratings win on the strength of "The X Factor," according to preliminary numbers.
"Whitney" kicked off its second season at 8 p.m. -- a slot previously inhabited by the now-kaput "Animal Practice -- with a 1.4 rating/4 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, a 58 percent drop from its series premiere last September, when it had a strong lead-in with "The Office."
"Whitney" averaged a 1.6 in the same slot earlier this year, while the premiere of "Animal Practice" in the fall logged a 1.4. Wednesday night's "Whitney" drew 4.2 million total viewers.
Fox, which ran "The X Factor" throughout its primetime roster, took first place in ratings with a 2.9/8 and second in total viewers with 8 million. Wednesday's "X Factor" was up 12 percent in the demo from last week, and 16 percent in total viewers.
CBS took second place in ratings and first in total viewers with a 2.7/7 and 11 million. "Survivor" at 8 was down slightly from last week for a 2.6/7 and drew 10 million total viewers, while "Criminal Minds" the following hour remained even in the demo for a 3.0/8 and had the night's largest audience with 12.1 million total viewers. "CSI" at 10 inched up to a 2.4/7 and drew 10.8 million total viewers.
ABC came in third in ratings and total viewers with a 2.5/7 and 7.7 million. Its primetime slate took hits across the board, with "Suburgatory" feeling the hardest pinch. "The Middle" at 8 dipped to a 2.5/8 and had 8.7 million total viewers, while "The Neighbors" at 8:30 dropped 10 percent for a 1.9/5 and had 6.7 million total viewers.
"Modern Family" at 9 inched down to a 4.6/12 -- which was still the best performance in the demo for the night -- and took 11.9 million total viewers. "Suburgatory" at 9:30 dropped 17 percent, drawing a 2.4/6 with 7.2 million total viewers, while freshman drama "Nashville" at 10 slid 10 percent for a 1.8/5 and took 5.9 million total viewers.
Univision grabbed fourth place in ratings and fifth in total viewers with a 1.6/4 and 3.9 million.
NBC took fifth place in ratings and fourth in total viewers with a 1.5/4 and 5.2 million. Following the "Whitney" season premiere, "Guys With Kids" at 8:30 drew even with its last original two weeks ago for a 1.3/4 and had 3.8 million total viewers.
"Law & Order: SVU" at 9 ticked down to a 1.6/4, tying its series low, and had 5.7 million total viewers. The new Dick Wolf drama "Chicago Fire" the following hour dropped 27 percent, hitting a 1.6/5 and taking 5.7 million total viewers.
At the CW, the new superhero drama "Arrow" at 8 grew in total viewers to 3.8 million -- making it the second most-watched episode of the season -- and slid slighly in ratings to a 1.2/3.. "Supernatural" the following hour drew even with last week in total viewership, drawing 2.3 million, and inched up in the demo for a 1.0/3.