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CBS Wins a Weak Wednesday Night for the Broadcast Nets

Dec 12, 2013  •  Post A Comment

On a night when the general trend in broadcast prime was down, CBS clawed its way to a ratings win over its rival networks, based on Nielsen overnights for the key 18-49 demo.

TVbytheNumbers.com reports that CBS parlayed its lineup of "Survivor," "Criminal Minds" and "CSI" into a lackluster 2.2 average rating for prime time in adults 18-49 to finish ahead of its even more lackluster rivals. "Survivor" and "CSI" both lost ground, while "Criminal Minds" equaled the number for its previous original, a 2.4.

"Survivor" settled for a 2.5 average in the demo, off 4% from a week ago, while "CSI" dipped to a 1.8, down 14% from its previous original.

Second-place ABC had the night’s top show on broadcast in "Modern Family," as a number of shows on the Alphabet Network bucked the downtrend. "Family" rose 9% from last week to a 3.5 average in the 18-49 demo.

Also up on ABC were "Back in the Game" — up 7% from last week with a 1.5 average in 18-49 — and "Super Fun Night," which bounced back from a series low a week ago to deliver a 1.8, improving 13%

Other ABC shows didn’t fare as well. "The Middle" equaled the season low it set last week in viewers 18-49 with a 1.9 average, while "Nashville" lost 13% to match its all-time low, a 1.4.

NBC saw its newly returned "The Sing-Off" lose ground and failed to get a bump from its Kelly Clarkson holiday special. The two-hour "Sing-Off" lost 25% from its Monday delivery in the 18-49 demo, recording a 1.8 average rating, while "Kelly Clarkson’s Cautionary Christmas Music Tale" managed only a 1.4 — equaling the Michael Buble Christmas special from a year ago.

Fox held steady with a fourth-place 1.4 average in 18-49 for its two-hour "The X Factor."

When the dust settled, CBS’s 2.2 average in adults 18-49 led the broadcast nets, followed by ABC (1.9 average), NBC (1.7), Fox (1.4) and Univision (1.2). CBS claimed a comfortable win in total viewers, averaging 10.3 million to top ABC (6.8 million), NBC (5.7 million), Fox (4.9 million) and Univision (3.1 million).

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2 Comments

  1. You would have to imagine some of the 10pm shows didn’t do well with the Duck Dynasty Christmas special on

  2. Season low or not, The Middle was still ABC’s second highest rated show of the night such that Back in the Game‘s “bounce” was still a drop from The Middle‘s.

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