Primetime Ratings: ‘Idol’ Up, Fox Wins Night

Fox won the Wednesday ratings race with a 1.9 in viewers 18-49, per Nielsen’s overnights, along with a 6 share. CBS was runner-up at 1.6/6, then ABC at 1.1/4, and NBC and The CW at 0.9/3. American Idol posted a 2.5, up 4% from last Wednesday, to pace Fox, followed by Hell’s Kitchen in a new night at 1.4.

Idol benefited from the show moving to the Hollywood stage. Fox has moved Second Chance, which had the Idol lead-out spot, to Fridays.

On CBS, 2 Broke Girls played to a 1.6, down 6%, with Mike & Molly flat at 1.6. Criminal Minds rated a flat 2.0 and Code Black was down 7% to 1.3.

ABC had two hours of comedy repeats before a new American Crime at 0.9, off 10%.

NBC was in repeats, including The Mysteries of Laura and Law & Order: SVU, throughout prime.

The CW, meanwhile, had Arrow at 1.1 and Supernatural at 0.7, both level with last week’s performance.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.