CBS and NBC tied for first place in the key 18-49 demographic on Wednesday night, while Fox’s “Home Free” and ABC’s “Celebrity Wife Swap” enjoyed solid gains, according to preliminary numbers.
Both CBS and NBC averaged a 1.2 rating/4 share in the demo, with NBC taking top honors outright in total viewers with an average 5.6 million, compared to second-place CBS, which had 5.2 million total viewers for the night. NBC kicked off the night with “America’s Got Talent” at 8, which was even with last week to tie a season low of 1.6/6. “Talent” was the night’s most-watched program with 9 million total viewers. “Mr. Robinson” at 9 drew a 1.0/4, even with last week, and had 4.2 million total viewers, while a second episode at 9:30 dropped to a 0.9/3 with 3.4 million total viewers. “Last Comic Standing” at 10 dipped to a 1.1/4, a season low, and drew 4.2 million total viewers.
CBS aired “Big Brother” at 8, which despite a demo dip from last week was the night’s top-rated show with a 2.1/8 and had 6.5 million total viewers. “Extant” the following hour pulled even with last week for a 0.7/3 and took 4.6 million total viewers. A “Criminal Minds” repeat fleshed out the network’s primetime slate.
Fox was third for the night in ratings and total viewers with a 1.1/4 and 3.9 million, respectively. “MasterChef” at 8 dropped a tenth from last week for a 1.3/5 but held steady in total viewers with 4.5 million, while “Home Free” the following hour posted a 13 percent gain in the demo for a 0.9/3 and climbed 10 percent in total viewers for 3.2 million.
ABC was fourth for the night with a 0.9/3 and 3.3 million total viewers. The network aired repeats aside from “Celebrity Wife Swap” at 10, which was up 13 percent from its last original episode on August 5 for a 0.9/3 and took 2.7 million total viewers.
Univision and Telemundo tied for fifth place, with each network drawing a 0.7/3. Univision edged out Telemundo in total viewers, averaging 2 million compared to Telemundo’s 1.6 million.
The CW, which averaged a 0.3/1 and 934,000 total viewers for the night, aired “America’s Top Model” at 8, which was even with last week for a 0.4/2 and had 1.2 million total viewers. “A Wicked Offer” the following hour slid 33 percent to a 0.2/1 drew 672,000 total viewers.