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Strong Premiere for ABC’s ‘Nashville,’ Not-so-Strong Premiere for NBC’s ‘Chicago Fire’

Oct 11, 2012  •  Post A Comment

Two high-profile broadcast drama series premiered opposite each other Wednesday night, with widely differing results.

TVbytheNumbers.com reports that ABC’s “Nashville” delivered almost 9 million total viewers and a 2.8 average rating in the key 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen overnights. Also premiering in the 10 p.m. hour was NBC’s new drama “Chicago Fire,” which settled for a 1.9 rating in 18-49 with 6.4 million total viewers.

“Nashville’s” number was good enough to win the 10 p.m. hour in the demo, although CBS’s “CSI” did better in total viewers with 10.6 million. “CSI” finished a close second to “Nashville” in viewers 18-49 with a 2.6 average.

NBC came back down to earth Wednesday after winning three nights in a row in the ratings for the first time since 2003, as previously reported. On Wednesday, NBC barely edged Univision for fourth place among the broadcast nets.

Fox took a narrow win for prime time overall, edging ABC with a 3.4 average in viewers 18-49. ABC was second with a 3.2 average rating, followed by CBS (2.8), NBC (1.6) and Univision (1.5). Total viewers was even closer, with CBS taking a narrow win with 10.5 million, followed by ABC (9.4 million), Fox (9.4 million), NBC (5.6 million) and Univision (3.7 million).

Fox was powered by its two-hour “X Factor,” which was down one-tenth of a ratings point from last week to a 3.4 in the 18-49 demo.

ABC had the top show of the night — “Modern Family,” which aired two back-to-back episodes, delivering a 4.9 in viewers 18-49 at 9:30 p.m. and a 4.7 at 9 p.m. The numbers were off from a 5.5 for the previous original episode. “The Neighbors” equaled last week’s 1.9, while “The Middle” rose two-tenths to a 2.4.

CBS’s “Survivor: Philippines” dipped significantly from its 3.0 a week ago to a 2.6 in 18-49, while “Criminal Minds” dipped a bit too, from a 3.1 for the previous original to a 3.0.

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