The return of fresh episodes of ABC’s Wednesday night comedies, especially the top-rated "Modern Family," helped the network claim a tie with NBC–riding high on a two-hour “Law & Order: SVU”–for first place in Nielsen ratings in the 18-49 demo, TVbytheNumbers.com reported.

NBC and ABC both finished with average ratings of 2.7 for the night in adults 18-49, ahead of CBS (2.4 average) and Fox (1.7). NBC won outright in total viewers with an average of 9.4 million to CBS’s 8.9 million, ABC’s 7.4 million and Fox’s 6.3 million.

At 8 p.m. ABC’s "The Middle" and "Better With You" had a 2.8 rating and a 2.5, respectively, in the 18-49 demographic. NBC’s "Minute to Win It" earned a 2.15 in the same demo for the hour, while CBS’s "Live to Dance" managed a 1.8 in the 18-49 demo for the hour. Fox’s "Human Target" collected a 1.65 in the 18-49 demo.

"Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" at 9 p.m. had a 4.8 rating and a 2.9, respectively, in the 18-49 demographic. CBS’s first hour of "The People’s Choice Awards" logged a 2.75 in the 18-49 demo, compared with NBC’s first hour of "Law & Order: SVU," which had a 2.9 in the same demo for the hour. Another episode of Fox’s "Human Target" netted a 1.7 in the 18-49 demo for the hour.

At 10 p.m. the second hour of "Law & Order: SVU" averaged a 2.95 rating in adults 18-49, while hour two of "The People’s Choice Awards" had a 2.65 in the same demo and ABC’s "Primetime: Celebrity Weight Loss" earned a 1.65 in the same demo for the hour.