Ratings News - 15th March 2012 *Full Tables Added*

We'll have the full tables and updated Cancellation Chart online shortly. Check the Twitter feed for updates.




Household
Rating/Share
Fox 12.1/19
CBS 7.3/12
ABC 4.6/ 8
NBC 2.3/ 4
CW 1.2/ 2

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Wednesday 3/16/11
ABC: +28, CBS: + 1, CW: -14, NBC: -15, Fox: -21

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-Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Survivor: One World (CBS), Modern Family (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS), CSI (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
Whitney (NBC), Are You There, Chelsea? (NBC), One Tree Hill (CW), America’s Next Top Model: British Invasion (CW), Happy Endings (ABC), Revenge for Real (ABC), Rock Center With Brian Williams (NBC)

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-Ratings Breakdown:
Fox stood well above the competition last night with two-hours of American Idol at a 12.1 rating/19 share from 8-10 p.m. But compared to one-year earlier (15.4/24 on 3/16/11, also two hours), this dipped by 21 percent. So, yes, American Idol is officially on the downside. The news of note last night, of course, was top 12 finalist Jermaine Jones from Pine Hill, New Jersey being disqualified from the competition based on the discovery that he had four pending warrants as well as two prior arrests. Needless to say, the producers need to be more careful in the screening process. Then again, maybe they just want the publicity.

Here is the half-hour breakdown for American Idol:

American Idol (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 11.1/19 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 12.1/19 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 12.4/19 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 12.6/20 (#1)

Veteran Survivor, which is no longer “one world” at camp, opened with a solid second-place 6.4/10 in the overnights at 8 p.m. Comparably, that was right on par from one year earlier. For Survivor guru Douglas Pucci’s review of Survivor (which I completely agree with), click here: http://tinyurl.com/6nycqfv.

Next on CBS was healthy Criminal Minds at a second-place 7.8/12 from 9-10 p.m., which dipped by six percent from the 8.5/13 one year earlier, followed by granddaddy CSI at a dominant 7.9/14. Comparably, CSI built by 18 percent from failed year-ago occupant Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (6.7/11 on 3/16/11). All three CBS Wednesday shows (plus 16 more) have been officially renewed for next season. See Other Network News below.

The standout on ABC, of course, was Modern Family, which finished second at 9 p.m. with a 7.6/12 in the overnights. Comparably, that increased from Suburgatory at 8:30 p.m. (#3: 4.5/ 7) by 69 percent. At 9:30 p.m., sophomore Happy Endings fumbled the ratings ball, as usual, with a third-place 4.0/ 6 (and retention out of Modern Family of only 53 percent). Next was Revenge for Real from ABC News at a distant second-place 3.4/ 6 at 10 p.m., which is considerably below the regularly scheduled scripted Revenge.

At 8 p.m. on ABC was three-year old sitcom The Middle, which finished third in the overnights with a 5.0/ 8.

Over at NBC, the news was grim care of its combination of sitcoms Whitney (#4: 2.9/ 5) and Are You There, Chelsea? (#4: 2.3/ 4) from 8-9 p.m., a repeat of Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. (#4: 2.0/ 3), and failing newsmagazine Rock Center With Brian Williams at a mere (and distant third-place) 2.2/ 4 at 10 p.m. Effective next Wednesday, sitcom Bent, which features Amanda Peet as a recently divorced lawyer, will air at 9 p.m. out of Are You There, Chelsea?. Back-to-back episodes will populate the hour for two weeks. Off Their Rockers With Betty White, which was amply sampled in its Monday, Jan. 16 preview, will inherit the Wednesday 8 p.m. half-hour on April 4, leading into Best Friends Forever at 8:30 p.m., the comedic tale of a woman (Jessica St. Clair) who moves in with her best friend (Lennon Parham) after her husband files for divorce. Off Their Rockers With Betty White and Best Friends Forever replace Whitney and Are You There, Chelsea?, which will have completed their first season runs.

The CW capped off this second Wednesday in March with One Tree Hill (#5: 1.2/ 2), which concludes with a two-hour episode on April 4, and America’s Next Top Model: British Invasion (#5: 1.1/ 2), which needs to call it quits at this point.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights