RATINGS RECAP: 9/25/13

ABC
8:00 The Middle
Viewers: 8.9 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
8:30 Back in the Game
Viewers: 8.0 million, 18-49 demo: 2.2
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 11.7 million, 18-49 demo: 4.2
10:00 Nashville
Viewers: 6.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 9.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 11.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.8
10:00 CSI
Viewers: 9.1 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0

NBC
8:00 Revolution
Viewers: 6.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.8
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 9.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.7

FOX
8:00 The X Factor
Viewers: 7.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5 

It was an interesting Wednesday night where every network had at least some things to be happy about. ABC had the only series premiere of the night with Back in the Game but first up, The Middle was down four tenths in the demo from last year's season premieres but it was above most numbers from last year. At 8:30pm, the series premiere of Back in the Game performed decently enough. It was lower than The Goldbergs or Trophy Wife in the demo but it had a much lower lead-in than either of those shows. It seems like it will be compatible with The Middle. At 9pm, Modern Family was down a big 1.3 demo points from last year's season premiere. This show may be past its peak unless syndication can give it new life. It's still the top comedy demo of the week though. At 10pm, Nashville premiered to pretty soft numbers right above where it settled last year. It seems like this show might be in trouble if its Super Fun Night lead-in starting next week is low.

A surprising story of the night was NBC. First off, the season premiere of Revolution in the new difficult Wednesday 8pm slot came in fourth place but it was close to where it left off last season in the much better Monday 10pm slot. More importantly, it didn't have a Smash-like meltdown when left to its own devices which is huge for NBC. This may not be enough in the long run but it's an improvement in the slot and maybe even a slightly overachieving performance from Revolution. The better news came at 9pm where Law & Order: SVU's two hour premiere gave the series its best performance since way back in May 2011. I did not see this coming for this show and incredibly impressive for its 15th season premiere.

Over on CBS, Survivor was down two tenths in viewers and the demo from its season premiere last week. At 9pm, Criminal Minds premiered down three tenths in the demo from last year but that's to be expected for a veteran drama. More troubling was CSI, which was down half a demo point from last year's premiere and only tied Nashville in the demo after regularly beating it last year. It will be interesting to see how the 10pm slot will go when Ironside is in the mix and the two returning dramas settle. Another surprise came on FOX where The X Factor was up 1.1 million viewers and three tenths in the demo for a season high despite more competition. Maybe I was writing this show off a little too soon.