American Idol was still Wednesday’s top show, but trading timeslots with Human Target threw the ratings juggernaut off its mark: At 9 p.m., Idol was down nearly 5 million viewers from last week, when it aired an hour earlier. Human Target also took a slide, dropping more than 2 million viewers from its last airing in its later slot. Target, was, however, up against CBS’ Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2010 special, which outperformed the Eye’s usual offerings in the 8 p.m. hour, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried.
| Time | Show | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 p.m. | Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2010 (CBS) Human Target (Fox) Mercy (NBC) Modern Family (ABC) Life Unexpected (The CW) |
11.2 7.8 6.3 6.8 (repeat) 1.4 (repeat) |
| 8:30 p.m. | The Middle (ABC) | 7.3 |
| 9 p.m. | American Idol (Fox) Criminal Minds (CBS) Modern Family (ABC) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) Gossip Girl (The CW) |
20.8 14.8 9.1 4.1 (repeat) .5 (repeat) |
| 9:30 p.m. | Cougar Town (ABC) | 6.2 |
| 10 p.m. | CSI: NY (CBS) The Jay Leno Show (NBC) Ugly Betty (ABC) |
14.2 (repeat) 4.2 4.1 |
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Read more:
American Idol recap: Twelve for the road!
Modern Family recap: The low two
Ugly Betty Bites: 23 drag-lightful lines from last night’s episode
Did Fox forget that Idol is first and foremost a family show? Duh, more people will be watching at 8!
I heard it was a clipshow mostly maybe that had something to do with it.
When is ABC going to put in some new programming for the opening slot on Wednesdays?
Yeah, like Better Off Ted.
8pm – 2.9 Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials
8pm – 2.4 Human Target
8pm – 2.4 Modern Family (repeat)
8pm – 1.6 Mercy
8pm – 0.6 Life Unexpected (repeat)
8:30pm – 2.7 The Middle
9pm – 7.7 American Idol
9pm – 3.9 Modern Family
9pm – 3.8 Criminal Minds
9pm – 0.9 L&O: SVU (repeat)
9pm – 0.2 Gossip Girl (repeat)
9:30pm – 2.9 Cougar Town
10pm – 3.4 CSI: NY
10pm – 1.5 Ugly Betty
10pm – 1.2 The Jay Leno Show
Joe, thanks for the demo ratings that is pretty interesting to see. A Modern Family repeat episode drew as big of a rating as Human Target. Human Target actually got beat by The Middle(2.7). Modern Family and CougarTown were basically unphased by Idol at 9pm with 3.9 and 2.9 demo ratings. Bam! ABC must be dancing in the streets today. I bet even they didn’t recognize the huge potential in their Wednesday comedy block. Who needs a new at eight when Modern Family repeats bring in 7 million viewers and a solid demo while the new episodes are nearing 10 million viewers per week and a 4.0 demo. This time next year ABC’s comedy block will be even more of a force to reckon with. They’ve got time to fold in another phenom 1/2 hour comedy later this year but they need a solid drama, something with some bite and a backbone at 10pm. Eastwick, and the ultra fluffy Ugly Betty aren’t going to pull in the viewers. Such a shame to see UB’s low numbers. I remember the first season brought that amazing mix of sinister intrigue along with the funny. Now we never see any plot of substance to amount to anything.
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OMG did you know that when James was eliminated the rantigs of American idol actually went up, 0.5 million more viewers watched the top 3. But after Haley was eliminated, the finale actually lost 3 million viewers from the previous week. I mean really, if either Scotty or Lauren would’ve been eliminated that wouldn’t happen because either way there is a country representant in the finale. But is Haley who actually brought up some millions of viewers.