RATINGS RECAP: 10/8/14

ABC
8:00 The Middle
Viewers: 7.7 million, 18-49 demo: 2.1
8:30 The Goldbergs
Viewers: 7.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
9:00 Modern Family
Viewers: 10.6 million, 18-49 demo: 3.6
9:30 Black-ish
Viewers: 8.3 million, 18-49 demo: 2.9
10:00 Nashville
Viewers: 5.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 9.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.5
9:00 Criminal Minds
Viewers: 10.5 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
10:00 Stalker
Viewers: 8.2 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7

NBC
8:00 The Mysteries of Laura
Viewers: 8.7 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
Viewers: 7.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.7
10:00 Chicago PD
Viewers: 6.6 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5

FOX
8:00 Hell's Kitchen
Viewers: 3.8 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4
9:00 Red Band Society
Viewers: 2.9 million, 18-49 demo: 0.9

Wednesday saw ABC with pretty solid results while every other network was mixed to negative. The Middle started things out for the Alphabet Network, and it was up three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo. The Goldbergs continued to shine in its new slot as it was up two tenths in viewers and even in the demo. At 9pm, Modern Family was even in viewers and down just a tenth in the demo, easily winning the night in the demo. The best news for ABC came at 9:30pm where week three of Black-ish was even in viewers but up three tenths in the demo. After last week's heavy drop, this is a very promising recovery and ABC clearly agreed, giving Black-ish a full season order today. It's retention out of Modern Family is very good, especially compared to some of the recent 9:30pm occupants. At 10pm, Nashville was up three tenths in viewers but down a tenth in the demo.

On CBS, Survivor was up a tenth in viewers and the demo. Criminal Minds was down 1.2 million viewers and four tenths in the demo from last week's season premiere. For a veteran series, this is a pretty big week two drop, but there may have been a curiosity factor with Jennifer Love Hewitt's addition last week. At 10pm, Stalker was down nine tenths in viewers and three tenths in the demo from its series premiere. Considering how much the lead-in dropped, this was not a bad performance. It could be stronger, but it was actually better than the 1.6 demo NCIS: Los Angeles and Person of Interest earned at 10pm on Monday and Tuesday for CBS. The problem is that Stalker is a newbie and probably not done dropping.

On NBC, The Mysteries of Laura was down three tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. After holding steady last week, it took a drop again and skewed much older. I still think NBC will at least order additional episodes, if not a full season, of this show. At 9pm, Law & Order: SVU was down a tenth in viewers and the demo. Chicago PD closed out the night dead even with last week. Finally on FOX, Hell's Kitchen was down a tenth in viewers and even in the demo while Red Band Society was down four tenths in viewers and two tenths in the demo. Yes, it's on FOX, but things are getting pretty dire for Red Band. If it survives awhile longer, it'll only be because of critical buzz or the fact that FOX has nothing to replace it with.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Black-ish (ABC)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: Red Band Society (FOX)