RATINGS RECAP: 2/16/11

ABC
8:00 The Middle
Viewers: 7.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
8:30 Better With You
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 10.6 million, 18-49 demo: 4.3
9:30 Mr. Sunshine
Viewers: 6.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6
10:00 Off the Map
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 11.2 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 12.8 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
10:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
Viewers: 13.1 million, 18-49 demo: 3.3

NBC
8:00 Minute to Win It
Viewers: 3.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0
10:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 7.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2

FOX
8:00 American Idol
Viewers: 23.2 million, 18-49 demo: 8.2

On a crowded Wednesday night, ABC's entire lineup was down but some shows were down more than others. At 8pm, The Middle was down nine tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo, posting a season low in total viewers as it had to deal with competition from Survivor and American Idol. At 8:30pm, Better With You was also down nine tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo, posting series lows in both categories. This show seems to have lost a bit of steam in recent weeks after a hopeful fall. At 9pm, Modern Family was down a rough 2.6 million viewers and eight tenths in the demo, tying a season low in viewers though it remained a big draw in a crowded timeslot. New sitcom Mr. Sunshine lost considerable steam in its second week as it was down a huge 3.6 million viewers and 1.1 demo points. Some of that can be due to competition from American Idol that it didn't have last week but it also only garnered a so-so reception. ABC needs it to stabilize fast and possibly go back up a bit for it to be a feasible Cougar Town replacement. Finally at 10pm, Off the Map sunk 1.3 million viewers and four tenths in the demo for easy series lows. Chalk it up as yet another freshman drama failure for ABC. Their last hope is Body of Proof at the end of March.

CBS had a strong night. At 8pm, Survivor premiered to solid numbers. While it was down from its fall premiere levels, it held up well against the mighty American Idol and was a vast improvement over last year's comedies and the recent Live to Dance. At 9pm, Criminal Minds was down nine tenths in viewers and four tenths in the demo as it had to face Idol once again. The news was great for CBS at 10pm with the premiere of spinoff series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. It got a great sampling and built from its parent show. It will be interesting to see how it holds up next week but for now it seems like CBS can do no wrong with its procedural franchises.

NBC was off the map from 8-10pm as Minute to Win It got majorly lost in the shuffle and was down a rough 2.5 million viewers and seven tenths in the demo for season lows. With these numbers, they might as well have left Chase on the schedule because Minute could not survive with Survivor back and Idol moving back to two hours. Minute may be better suited on Fridays but then what could NBC put in this slot? At 10pm, Law & Order: SVU was down six tenths in viewers and four tenths in the demo which really isn't horrible considering its terrible lead-in and the fact that it was facing off against a crime drama premiere on CBS. Over on FOX, American Idol was two hours again and down just nine tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo and continued to dominate the ratings.