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Tough Night in the Ratings for NBC; ABC’s Blockbuster ‘Modern Family’ Premieres Well Below Last Year

Sep 27, 2012  •  Post A Comment

NBC had a difficult night in the Nielsen ratings Wednesday, as a week of season premieres and series premieres continued for the broadcast networks.

Citing Nielsen overnight figures, TVbytheNumbers.com reports that NBC’s two-hour season premiere of “Law & Order: SVU” delivered a 2.1 average rating in the key 18-49 demo, down from a 2.4 for the premiere a year ago, while “Guys With Kids” dipped to a 1.6, down from a 2.2 for the previous original, and “Animal Practice” managed only a 1.4, well below the 4.1 for its premiere.

For prime time overall, NBC wound up a distant fourth among the big 4 broadcast nets. But other broadcasters had their share of problems too. ABC’s premiere of “Modern Family” delivered the best number of the night, a 5.5 average in 18-49. But that was off from a 6.1 for last year’s premiere. The network’s hourlong premiere of “The Middle” settled for a 2.8, down from last year’s 3.1, while a recap episode of “Revenge” managed only a 1.6. “The Neighbors” was a pleasant surprise for the network, coming through with a 3.3 for its series premiere.

CBS was generally down as well, with a 3.0 in 18-49 for “Survivor: Philippines,” down from the 3.2 for last week’s premiere episode, and a 3.1 for the season premiere for “Criminal Minds,” well below the 4.1 the show delivered a year ago. “CSI’s” season premiere at 10 p.m. settled for a 2.5.

Fox won the night, with its two-hour “X Factor” drawing a 3.3 average in the 18-49 demo. But even that was down from last week, when the show had a 3.6.

For prime time overall, Fox’s 3.3 average rating in 18-49 led all broadcast nets, followed by ABC (2.9 average), CBS (2.8) and NBC (1.9). CBS edged ahead in total viewers, averaging 10.8 million to 9.4 million for Fox, 8.7 million for ABC and 6.4 million for NBC.

One Comment

  1. NBC should try airing “Animal Practice” and “Guys With Kids” on Fridays–instead of “Community” and “Whitney”.
    “Guys with Kids” premiered on Friday a few weeks ago with a 2.2 rating.

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