Reality shows were king last night over repeat scripted fare on the broadcast networks.
Fox’s "So You Think You Can Dance" was in a virtual tie last night with NBC’s "America’s Got Talent" for the highest rated program of the night among adults 18-49 at a 2.8 each, but "Talent" clearly drew the most overall viewers, averaging 10 million compared to "Dance’s" 7.3 million.
"Dance" also won the night among adults 18-34 and teens.
"Talent" was down 22 percent in the 18-49 demo from its Tuesday premiere, while "Dance" was only down 7 percent from its summer premiere last Thursday.
As usual during the summer, repeats of CBS’ two solid procedural crime dramas, "Criminal Minds" at 9 p.m. and "CSI: NY" at 10 p.m., averaged a respectable 8 million and 8.5 million viewers, respectively. Although their 18-49 demo numbers were not as good. "Criminal Minds" averaged a 1.7 to finish third in its 9 p.m. time period to "Dance" and "Talent," while "CSI: NY" finished second in a three-way race with a 1.8. It was edged out at 10 p.m. by a repeat of NBC drama "Law & Order: SVU," which produced a 1.9.
"SVU" averaged more than 2 million less viewers than "CSI:NY."
ABC’s night of repeats did not fare as well, nor did a first-run showing of its summer drama "Happy Town."
"Happy Town," which premiered on May 12, drew only 2.7 million viewers and an 0.8 18-49 rating at 10 p.m., down 27 percent from its premiere.
Back-to-back repeats of ABC sitcom "The Middle" from 8-9 p.m. averaged 4.9 million viewers and a 1.3 18-49 rating, while repeats of "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town," averaged a 1.6 and 1.3, respectively in 18-49.
And a repeat of NBC’s "Losing It With Jillian" at 8 was also barely on the map, averaging a 1.0 in the 18-49 demo.