RATINGS RECAP: 10/13/10

ABC
8:00 The Middle
Viewers: 8.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
8:30 Better With You
Viewers: 6.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 11.5 million, 18-49 demo: 4.8
9:30 Cougar Town
Viewers: 7.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
10:00 ABC News Special
Viewers: 6.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 12.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.8
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 14.0 million, 18-49 demo: 3.5
10:00 The Defenders
Viewers: 9.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5

NBC
8:00 Undercovers
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 8.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
10:00 Law & Order: Los Angeles
Viewers: 7.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

FOX
8:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8
9:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 7.4 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4

ABC kicked its Wednesday off with it usual slate of comedies. The Middle was even from last week and remains a solid anchor for the night. Better With You continued to lose audience as it hit series lows in viewers and the demo after a slight rise in the demo last week. This is already probably a concern for ABC and will certainly be if it drops any further. Modern Family was up a bit from last week, posting its best demo numbers since the season premiere. It remains the standout on the night. Cougar Town continued to lose a ton of Family's audience but was up .1 in viewers and .2 in the demo. Its retention is terrible but a 3.2 demo is not that bad. ABC preempted drama The Whole Truth at the last minute for a news special on the amazing miners rescue in Chile and got solid numbers especially considering they had less than 24 hours to promote it. Its numbers were better than any The Whole Truth has gotten.

CBS had a solid Wednesday night. Survivor was up slightly in viewers and even in the demo, easily winning the hour in both categories. Criminal Minds was nearly dead even with last week but remained behind Modern Family in the demo though it took first in the 9:30pm half hour. Finally, The Defenders saw a surprising rise in viewers and the demo. It's 12% jump in the demo was especially noticeable as many had assumed it was dead for CBS. It also managed to snag the demo win back from NBC. All in all, a promising night.

NBC just keeps adding problems to their list with each passing night. Undercovers only dropped a bit from last week but is still very low. It has dipped below 6 million viewers and is a distant fourth in the demo. It's hard to tell which NBC flop is most at-risk but Undercovers has to be high on the that list. Law & Order: SVU easily dropped to a season low in viewers and the demo and continues to flounder at a 9pm slot when its much better suited for 10pm. Law & Order: Los Angeles lost a full million viewers and dropped another 20% in the demo to a very low 1.9. The franchise is clearly tired and this new edition isn't catching on.

FOX continued to have success with Hell's Kitchen. The 8pm edition was slightly down but the 9pm edition was up yet again. It's amazing to think that the 9pm episode managed to beat all of ABC's lineup except Modern Family, all of NBC's lineup, and The Defenders on CBS in the demo. This was clearly a great counter-programming move by FOX.