Fox's "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance" both had significant growth and pushed the network to an overall win Wednesday night, but ABC's "Modern Family" enjoyed a modest ratings climb that made it the night's top-rated program, according to preliminary numbers.
Fox took first place in both the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic with a 2.6 rating/8 share, and in total viewers with 9.3 million. The "American Idol" performance finale at 8 p.m. posted a 2.9/10 — up slightly from the 2.8/8 that last Wednesday's two-hour episode and a 16 percent jump from the common 8-9 p.m. hour that the two episodes shared.
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"Idol" also grabbed 11.6 million total viewers, making it the night's most-watched episode. "So You Think You Can Dance" the following hour jumped 21 percent from Tuesday night's premiere for a 2.3/6 and 7.1 million total viewers.
ABC was second place in ratings and third in total viewers with a 2.0/6 and 6.4 million. "The Middle" at 8 grew slightly for a 1.9/7 with 6.6 million total viewers, while the recently canceled "Family Tools" ran even with last week for a 1.2/4 and 4.5 million total viewers. "Modern Family" at 9 inched up 6 percent for a 3.5/10 with 9.7 million total viewers, and "How to Live With Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life") at 9:30 had a 2.0/5 with 6.2 million total viewers. "Nashville" at 10 jumped 13 percent from last week, posting a 1.8/5 and drawing 5.6 million total viewers.
CBS was third in ratings and second in total viewers with a 1.9/6 and 7.9 million viewers. Following two consecutive repeats of "2 Broke Girls," "Criminal Minds" at 9 ran even with last week for a 2.5/7 with 10.3 million total viewers, while the season finale of "CSI" dipped 9 percent from last week, drawing a 2.0/6 with 9.6 million total viewers.
NBC was fourth in ratings and total viewers with a 1.6/5 and 6.3 million. "Dateline" at 8 had a 1.3/4 and 5.8 million total viewers, while "Law & Order: SVU" the following hour slid 21 percent from last week for a 1.5/4 and 6.4 million total viewers. "Chicago Fire" at 10 bumped up to a 1.9/5 with 6.9 million total viewers.
At the CW, the season finale of "Arrow" was flat with last week's episode, tying a series low of 0.9/3 with 2.7 million total viewers, while the season finale of "Supernatural" the following hour dropped 10 percent from last week, also posting a 0.9/3 — a 29 percent boost from last year's finale — and drawing 2.4 million total viewers.