RATINGS RECAP: 1/16/13

ABC
8:00 The Middle
Viewers: 8.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
8:30 The Neighbors
Viewers: 6.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 11.0 million, 18-49 demo: 4.3
9:30 Suburgatory
Viewers: 6.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
10:00 Nashville
Viewers: 6.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2

CBS
8:00 NCIS (Repeat)
Viewers: 8.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.1
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 12.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9
10:00 CSI
Viewers: 11.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3

NBC
8:00 Whitney (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.5 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8
8:30 Guys with Kids (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.3 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8
9:00 Law & Order: SVU (Repeat)
Viewers: 2.7 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6
10:00 Chicago Fire (Repeat)
Viewers: 3.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.0

FOX
8:00 American Idol
Viewers: 17.9 million, 18-49 demo: 6.0

On Wednesday night, American Idol returned but the decline continued as the season premiere was down a big 1.4 demo points from last year's season premiere even with the revamped judging panel. It's still strong but it might go awfully low for Idol in the weeks to come. For a show that was so clearly #1 for so long, it'll have a hard time passing The Big Bang Theory in the demo and total viewers, NCIS in total viewers, and even possibly The Voice in the demo. Over on CBS, the dramas returned from their winter break and Criminal Minds was up six tenths in viewers but down two tenths in the demo. It held up well against Idol but also probably benefited from a repeat of Law & Order: SVU which is more direct competition. At 10pm, CSI was up 1.5 million viewers and a tenth in the demo. It will be interesting to see what happens when this show, Nashville, and Chicago Fire are all new again together because Fire and Nashville seem to be gaining some ground on the veteran. 

All of ABC's comedies were down probably due to the Idol competition. At 8pm, The Middle was down two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo which is actually a very solid hold. At 8:30pm, The Neighbors was down six tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo. If this show starts to wilt against Idol, it'll hurt its promising chances for a season two. At 9pm, Modern Family was down a million viewers and four tenths in the demo for the biggest drop of the night while Suburgatory was down seven tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo. The better news for ABC came at 10pm where Nashville was up six tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo for its best number since the series premiere. It seems like it might be on the upswing since the Christmas break.