RATINGS RECAP: 3/12/14

ABC
8:00 The Middle
Viewers: 7.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0
8:30 Suburgatory
Viewers: 5.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 9.4 million, 18-49 demo: 3.4
9:30 Mixology
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
10:00 Nashville
Viewers: 5.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 9.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 10.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
10:00 CSI
Viewers: 10.2 million, 18-49 demo: 2.0

NBC
8:00 Revolution
Viewers: 4.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 6.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6
10:00 Chicago PD
Viewers: 5.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.6 

FOX
8:00 American Idol
Viewers: 10.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.4

Wednesday night was a pretty typical night for the networks with a few shows moving up and down. First up on ABC, The Middle was up two tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. At 8:30pm, Suburgatory was down three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo despite the lead-in being up. This is the biggest bubble sitcom on ABC because the fates of the others seem pretty obvious. At 9pm, Modern Family was up two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. Week three of Mixology didn't do as well as week two as it was down three tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. Retention out of Family was a pitiful 44%. At 10pm, Nashville was even in viewers and down a tenth in the demo. This is another bubble show for ABC and I wonder if potential success from Resurrection puts this or Revenge on the chopping block? 

On CBS, the crime dramas went in opposite directions. But first, Survivor was up a tenth in viewers and the demo. It beat American Idol both in the timeslot and overall... wow. Maybe it's more of a reflection of Idol's downward trend, but this is still a great piece of news for the grandfather of reality shows. At 9pm, Criminal Minds was down a noticeable seven tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo. Despite the lead-in taking a dip, CSI was up nine tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo. This makes little to no sense to me. Criminal Minds was down big despite the lead-in being up. Then CSI was up significantly after a down week. And the competition was the same. So who knows what happened here, but it was an odd little night.

NBC had a very steady night. Revolution started things off down two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. At 9pm, Law & Order: SVU was up three tenths in viewers and even in the demo. To close out the night, Chicago PD was down three tenths in viewers and up a tenth in the demo. SVU and Chicago PD are nothing if not compatible. On FOX, American Idol was down two tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo for a new Wednesday low. It was still down nearly 25% year to year. I thought the year to year bleeding would get better as the season went on but it's not happening and Idol seems to STILL be on a sharp downward trend.