RATINGS RECAP: 10/10/12

ABC
8:00 The Middle
Viewers: 7.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4
8:30 The Neighbors
Viewers: 6.4 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 12.1 million, 18-49 demo: 4.8
9:30 Modern Family
Viewers: 12.3 million, 18-49 demo: 4.9
10:00 Nashville
Viewers: 8.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 9.8 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 11.5 million, 18-49 demo: 3.0
10:00 CSI
Viewers: 10.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.6

NBC
8:00 Animal Practice
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
8:30 Guys with Kids
Viewers: 4.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 6.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
10:00 Chicago Fire
Viewers: 6.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.9

FOX
8:00 The X Factor
Viewers: 9.6 million, 18-49 demo: 3.5 

Wednesday night brought two new premieres to the big four networks as Nashville and Chicago Fire went head to head at 10pm. First on ABC, The Middle and The Neighbors both rebounded some from last week when a debate and not Modern Family aired at 9pm. The Middle was up two tenths in viewers and the demo while The Neighbors was up a tenth in viewers and the demo. I guess a 2.0 demo for The Neighbors three weeks in isn't horrible but I still don't see it lasting. Modern Family returned after a week and aired two episodes. It was significantly down from its season premiere of a 5.5 demo but it's still among the top demo draws on all of TV. At 10pm, the series premiere of Nashville won the 10pm hour but came in below expectations with a pretty steep 10:30pm drop. Still, the positive news is it was one of the better drama premieres of the fall for any network (just behind Revolution and Elementary). We'll get a better picture of it's long term chances next week.

On NBC, Animal Practice dropped eight tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo to a terrible 1.1 demo. This show might be the next freshman to get yanked especially when NBC has a multicam on its bench in Whitney that has aired here previously and might be compatible with Guys with Kids. At 8:30pm, Guys was down six tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo but it built on the lead-in by three tenths again. A 1.4 demo is not good but the context is worth looking at and it seems like it should be given a chance with a better lead-in. At 9pm, Law & Order: SVU was down a million viewers and three tenths in the demo from its two hour premiere two weeks ago. At 10pm, the series premiere of Chicago Fire did ok. The positive news was it built on Law & Order: SVU and stayed pretty steady across the hour. The negative side was that a 1.9 demo is nothing to write home about. Will the gap tighten between this show and Nashville next week?

Over on CBS, Survivor started off the night down six tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. At 9pm, Criminal Minds was down two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo from its season premiere two weeks ago. But the best news came at 10pm where CSI was down a tenth in viewers but up a tenth in the demo and this was coming against premieres on both ABC and NBC and it even beat Nashville in the 10:30pm half hour. Moving to Wednesday at 10pm was the best thing to happen to this veteran drama where it is one of CBS's most reliable performers. On FOX, The X Factor was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo from last week's two hour episode.