"American Idol" won the night for Fox despite hitting an all-time low for Wednesday night performance shows for the fourth consecutive week, according to preliminary numbers. CBS's "Criminal Minds" and "CSI" returned after three weeks to higher ratings Wednesday night, while "Suburgatory" dropped to a series low.
Fox, which aired "Idol" throughout its primetime slate, drew first place in ratings with a 3.5 rating/10 share in the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic. That was off slightly from the 3.6/11 that "Idol" drew last Wednesday. "Idol" drew 12.7 million total viewers — also off slightly from last week. Despite the losses, "Idol" was the night's most-watched and highest-rated show.
CBS came in second in ratings and total viewers with a 2.6/7 and 10.5 million. "Survivor" at 8 inched down to a 2.5/8 and drew 9.6 million total viewers. "Criminal Minds" the following hour grew 15 percent from its last original three weeks ago, taking a 3.0/8 with 11.5 million total viewers. "CSI" at 10 was also up after a three-week break, jumping 21 percent for a 2.3/6 and taking 10.4 million total viewers.
Univision drew third place in ratings and tied ABC for fourth in total viewers with a 1.7/5 and 4 million.
NBC took fourth in ratings and third in total viewers with a 1.4/4 and 4.9 million. "Whitney" inched down to tie a series low of 1.4/4 and had 3.2 million total viewers. Following a "Whitney" repeat, "Law & Order: SVU" returned after three weeks to a slight decline in ratings, posting a 1.5/4, but inched up in total viewers with 5.4 million. "Chicago Fire," also returned after three weeks, dropped 15 percent, taking a 1.7/5 and drawing 6.3 million total viewers.
ABC, with a primetime slate composed largely of repeats, drew fifth place in ratings with a 1.2/6. Following a repeat of "The Middle" at 8, "The Neighbors" at 8:30 remained steady with last week for a 1.4/4 and took 4.7 million total viewers. A "Modern Family" repeat was followed by "Suburgatory" at 9:30, which dropped off 12 percent to a series low of 1.5/4 and had 4.2 million total viewers. A "Nashville" repeat finished off the night for the network.
