Thanks in part to lower lead-ins this week, ABC’s “Super Fun Night” and NBC’s “Ironside” declined Wednesday from their premieres, while CW saw a solid start for its “The Tomorrow People” behind “Arrow.”
It was another competitive night in adults 18-49, with ABC and CBS tying in the prelims, with Fox close behind. The Alphabet’s “Modern Family” was the No. 1 program in the demo, and CBS’ “Criminal Minds” ranked second in the demo and led all programs on the night in total viewers.
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “Super Fun Night” averaged a 2.5 rating/7 share in adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers overall, down a little over 20% from its premiere and placing a close second in its 9:30 p.m. timeslot in the demo. Lead-in “Modern Family” (3.8/11 in 18-49, 10.4 million viewers overall) itself was down about 10% but was No. 1 for the night in 18-49 and 25-54 (4.6/12).
“Super Fun Night” retained about 65% of its “Modern Family” 18-49 lead-in, down from 76% for its premiere but still better than “Suburgatory” at this time a year ago, when it held less than 60% of “Modern Family.”
Also on the night for ABC, “The Middle” (2.2/7 in 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall) was in line with last week, but “Back in the Game” dropped off (1.7/5 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall). And at 10, “Nashville” (1.7/5 in 18-49, 5.9 million viewers overall) posted its lowest score of the season, down from last week’s 1.9 (behind a stronger “Super Fun Night”).
At CBS, “Survivor” (2.4/8 in 18-49, 9.5 million viewers overall) was down week to week but continues to win its hour in its 27th season. It was followed by “Criminal Minds” (2.6/7 in 18-49, 10.9 million viewers overall), which placed second in most categories — opening up some distance on competing crime drama “Law & Order: SVU” on NBC — and first in total viewers. And at 10, “CSI” (1.9/5 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall) was down 10% from last week but still beat out its drama rivals.
NBC’s “Revolution” was down another tick (1.5/4 in 18-49, 5.4 million viewers overall), placing fourth in 18-49 for the 8 o’clock hour. “SVU” (1.6/4 in 18-49, 6.2 million viewers overall) was off about 20% from last week and also placed fourth, while “Ironside” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) was down 18% (0.2) from its premiere.
Fox’s “The X Factor” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 7.1 million viewers overall) placed third in 18-49 from 8 to 10 p.m., down 8% from last week.
And at CW, “Arrow” (0.9/3 in 18-49, 2.7 million viewers overall) still looks pretty good despite opening lower than its big series premiere of last year. And “Tomorrow People” (0.8/2 in 18-49, 2.3 million viewers overall) held most of “Arrow’s” 18-49 audience but fell off in adults 18-34 (0.5 vs. 0.8).
Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: ABC and CBS, 2.3/7; Fox, 2.2/6; NBC, 1.4/4; Univision, 1.2/4; CW, 0.9/3; Telemundo, 0.5/2.
In total viewers: CBS, 9.7 million; ABC, 7.2 million; Fox, 7.1 million; NBC, 5.6 million; Univision, 3.1 million; CW, 2.5 million; Telemundo, 1.3 million.
