Ratings News - 17th May 2012 *Full Tables Added*

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Metered Market Wednesday Ratings

Wednesday 5/16/12

Household
Rating/Share
Fox 11.8/19
CBS 6.6/11
ABC 5.1/ 8
NBC 3.2/ 5
CW 0.9/ 1

-Percent Change from Year-Ago Evening – Wednesday 5/18/11
ABC: +24, CBS: + 8, NBC: - 3, Fox: -22, CW: -36

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-Winners:
American Idol (Fox), Modern Family (ABC), Criminal Minds (CBS)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
America’s Next Top Model (CW), Don’t Trust the B____ in Apartment 23 (ABC), Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

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-Rating Results:
Fox, as expected, reigned supreme on this third Wednesday in May care of the final performance show of the season for American Idol, which scored an 11.8 rating/19 share in the overnights from 8-10 p.m. While that was more than enough to dominate in each of the four half-hours, year-to-year it was off by 22 percent (versus a 15.1/23 on 5/18/11). And now rumor has it Jennifer Lopez may not be returning next season. Who do you think should fill J.Lo’s seat? http://tinyurl.com/7jyno8k

Here is the half-hour breakdown:

American Idol (Fox)
8:00 p.m.: 10.6/18 (#1)
8:30 p.m.: 11.8/19 (#1)
9:00 p.m.: 12.3/19 (#1)
9:30 p.m.: 12.3/19 (#1)

On CBS, encore telecasts of Mike & Molly (#4: 2.9/ 5 at 8 p.m.) and Rules of Engagement (#4: 2.7/ 4 at 8:30 p.m.), which could still be returning next season, led into the two-hour season finale of Criminal Minds at a solid 8.6/14 from 9-11 p.m. Comparably, that was right on par from one year earlier. Here is the half-hour breakdown:

Criminal Minds (CBS)
9:00 p.m.: 7.8/12 (#2)
9:30 p.m.: 8.4/13 (#2)
10:00 p.m.: 9.1/15 (#1)
10:30 p.m.: 9.0/15 (#1)

Modern Family was the standout on ABC, of course, with a third-place 7.0/11 at 9 p.m. And that, comparably, will finish second among adults 18-49 in the time period behind Idol. Next was disappointing Don’t Trust the B____ in Apartment 23 (#3: 3.9/ 6 at 9:30 p.m.), which will not have an easy time being paired with Happy Endings in the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour next fall, followed by Revenge (#2: 5.1/ 9 at 10 p.m.), which shifts to Sundays at 9 p.m. in season two. Consider that both a bold and very wise move.

Earlier in the evening on ABC was The Middle at a second-place 4.8/ 8 at 8 p.m. (down six percent from one year earlier), followed by the season one finale of Suburgatory at a 4.3/ 7 (#2) at 8:30 p.m. While not a stellar initial season by any means, the solid retention for Suburgatory out of The Middle made its renewal an easy decision.

Elsewhere, NBC filled the evening with two more episodes of Betty White’s Off Their Rockers (#3: avg. 3.6/ 6 from 8-9 p.m.), which will return in midseason, a repeat of Law & Order: SVU (#4: 1.9/ 3 at 9 p.m.), and an original installment of tired SVU (#3: 4.1/ 6 at 10 p.m.), which year-to-year slipped by a hefty 33 percent (versus a 6.1/10 on 5/18/11). The CW aired a double (repeat and original dose) of should-have-been axed America’s Next Top Model. The encore averaged a 0.7/ 1 at 8 p.m. (#5), followed by the original at a 1.1/ 2 at 9 p.m. Next season, tired Top Model moves to Fridays at 8 p.m. into returning Nikita.

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

Source: Marc Berman@TVMediaInsights