Despite facing increased competition week to week from a special 2-hour The Voice on NBC, ABC posted across-the-board increases with its Wednesday line up. Jumping 12% over the prior week, the Net earned second place on the night among Adults 18-49, beating CBS by 4% (Survivor/Criminal Minds/CSI) and Fox by 8% (2-hour The X Factor). In viewers and young adults, ABC’s Modern Family stood as Wednesday’s #1 TV show, leading the night among Adults 18-49 for its 6th consecutive telecast this season.
At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle took second in Adults 18-49 to The Voice, beating CBS’ Survivor: Philippines for the first time this season by 8% and Fox’s The X Factor by 22%. In addition, the ABC comedy defeated The Voice to finish as the #1 broadcast show in the half-hour with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. The Middle returned up after its preemption the prior week, growing its numbers for its 4th straight telecast in viewers (+3%) and young adults (+8%) to mark best-since-premiere numbers on both measures.
At 8:30pm, ABC’s The Neighbors tied Survivor in Adults 18-34 and beat the CBS unscripted veteran by an impressive 24% with Women 18-34. Surging week to week in viewers (+21%) and young adults (+11%), The Neighbors achieved new season highs in the half-hour on both counts. In addition, the ABC family comedy shot up 56% week to week with Teens 12-17.
Jumping over its lead-in to win the 9pm half-hour, ABC’s Modern Family beat out its nearest competition in the slot by 4% in Total Viewers (Criminal Minds) and by 18% in Adults 18-49 (The Voice). In addition to finishing as Wednesday’s #1 TV show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, Modern Family was also the night’s highest-rated program with Adults 18-34 and Adults 25-54 for its 4th consecutive telecast. Modern Family was up over the prior week by double digits in viewers (+16%) and young adults (+12%), while jumping by triple digits with Teens 12-17 (+145%) to earn its highest rating since the beginning of May – since 5/9/12.
In the 9:30pm half-hour against the conclusion of The Voice and The X Factor, ABC’s Suburgatory spiked week to week in Total Viewers (+21%) and Adults 18-49 (+21%). Hitting season highs, Suburgatory drew its biggest audience since January and tied its top young adult number in over 1 year – since 1/11/12 and 11/2/11, respectively
During the 10 o’clock hour, ABC’s Nashville ranked #1 against its drama competition on CBS (CSI) and NBC (The Voice-driven Chicago Fire) in Adults 18-34 and across the key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54). Equaling the series’ 2nd highest Adult 18-49 number, Nashville rose week to week by 5% in viewers and by 11% in young adults. Continuing to see big increases in the Live + 7 Day ratings, Nashville spikes over its Live + Same Day numbers by 54% in Adults 18-49 (+1.3 rating) and by 42% in Total Viewers (+3.3 million), averaging 11.1 million viewers and a 3.7 rating with young adults in the final numbers.
FOX Wednesday Ratings: THE X FACTOR HOLDS STEADY AGAINST COMPETITION
In head to head competition last night, FOX’s THE X FACTOR remained steady with last week’s rating while NBC’s The Voice dropped -20% week over week.
· THE X FACTOR – Top 12 Perform: 2.6/7, even with last week’s fast national among Adults 18-49.
o Compared to last week THE X FACTOR was up from last week (both prelim and Final) by +9% among Adults 18-34 (2.5 vs. 2.3) and +47% in Teens (2.2 vs. 1.5).
o Last night’s THE X FACTOR outperformed The Voice among Teens by +10% (2.2 vs. 2.0) and Female Teens by +43% (3.3 vs. 2.3), and was the highest-rated program of the night among Female Teens.
FOX ranked #2 last night among Adults 18-34 and won the night in Teens, beating the #2 net of the night in that demo (NBC) by +38%.
Competition
ABC’s The Middle (2.8/8, up +8%), The Neighbors (2.1/6, up +11%), Modern Family (4.7/12, up +12%), Suburgatory (2.9/7, up +21%), and Nashville (2.0/5, up +11%) were all up from their most recent telecasts.
On CBS, Survivor: Philippines (2.7/7, up +8%) and Criminal Minds (3.0/8, up +3%) were both up from season-lows last week, while CSI (2.3/6) matched its lowest original rating ever, down -4% from last week (2.4/7).
On NBC, a special Wednesday telecast of The Voice- Playoffs #2 (3.7/10) was down -20% from last Tuesday (4.6/12) and -18% from Monday’s Playoffs #1 round (4.5/11). At 10pm and with The Voice as a lead-in, Chicago Fire (2.3/6) was up +44% from last week (1.6/4), but declined -38% from The Voice and saw erosion in its hour, losing -13% of its A18-49 rating from 10pm to 1030pm (2.4 >2.1).
