RATINGS RECAP: 4/27/11

ABC
8:00 The Middle (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
8:30 Better With You
Viewers: 4.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:00 Modern Family (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:30 Cougar Town
Viewers: 5.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
10:00 Happy Endings
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
10:30 Modern Family (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 11.3 million, 18-49 demo: 3.2
9:00 Criminal Minds (Repeat)
Viewers: 9.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
10:00 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (Repeat)
Viewers: 7.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

NBC
8:00 Inside the Royal Wedding
Viewers: 5.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
9:00 The Voice (Repeat)
Viewers: 6.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2

FOX
8:00 American Idol
Viewers: 22.3 million, 18-49 demo: 7.1
9:30 Breaking In
Viewers: 7.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4

ABC was partially new on Wednesday night with mixed results. After a repeat of The Middle, Better With You was down six tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo, hitting a series low in viewers. This came after a great sampling on Monday night following Dancing with the Stars but the fact that audiences didn't follow it to its regular timeslot kills any revival this show might have been getting. A repeat of Modern Family was a tenth away from being the best demo performer of the night. At 9:30pm, Cougar Town was down six tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. Though it had a much weaker lead-in, it was handily beat by FOX's Breaking In. This needs to find a new timeslot since it was already renewed. At 10pm though Happy Endings was up six tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo from last week which is a nice turnaround for the young season. These 10pm numbers are definitely acceptable at this point and ABC decided to double pump episodes for the remainder of the season in the hour, which is a good sign. Like 30 Rock on NBC, a comedy getting over a 2 in the demo at 10pm, an hour where comedies never air, is not bad at all.

CBS was only new in the 8pm hour on the last night before Sweeps. At 8pm, Survivor was up three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo as it seems to be slowly building towards the finale. Repeats of the Criminal Minds shows rounded out the night. NBC started things off with a special on the Royal Wedding which was modestly rated but an improvement over Minute to Win It. A night-after encore of The Voice was quite impressive for a show that had just aired as it managed a 2.2 in the demo. It's clear that the buzz surrounding the show was positive and led many more to check out the show's second night. It will be very interesting to see the ratings for this show next Tuesday, but they might even go up.

FOX started things off as usual with American Idol which was down just two tenths in viewers and even in the demo with last week. It was followed by Breaking In, which was down half a million viewers and a tenth in the demo. The retention out of Idol remains terrible but the overall numbers are still decent enough. If FOX does indeed renew this show, it should probably follow Idol again (or maybe X-Factor) because it's likely it would tank on its own.