As the lone new series to premiere Wednesday, ABC's comedy Back in the Game got off to a decent start, drawing a 2.2 rating with adults 18-49 at 8:30 p.m., according to Nielsen overnight numbers.
That was a 16% improvement from what The Neighbors premiered to in the timeslot last fall and down just 8% from its lead-in, the season debut of The Middle, which earned a 2.4. The Middle fell 17% from its year-ago premiere, however and ModernFamily, fresh off its fourth Emmy win, slipped 25% from its fourth season premiere to a 4.1.
At 10 p.m. the sophomore bow of Nashville averaged a 2.1, also down 25% from its series premiere to tie CBS for second in the hour. It was enough for ABC to win Wednesday in the 18-49 demo, however, with a 2.8 rating/8 share.
NBC and CBS tied for third in the demo with a 2.4/7, though CBS was first in total viewers with 9.9 million. NBC's Revolution, relocated from its plum timeslot after The Voice, earned a 1.8, expectedly much lower than the 4.1 it debuted to last fall but up 20% from the canceled Animal Practice and Guys With Kids premieres in the time period. At 9 p.m., the 15th season opener of Law & Order: SVU rebounded with its two-hour season premiere drawing a 2.7, up 29% from a year ago to its best rating in two years.
CBS' lineup also posted declines compared to last fall. At 9 p.m. Criminal Minds fell 10% to a 2.8 and CSI dipped 16% to a 2.1 at 10p.m. Survivor was down 12% from its week-ago premiere to a 2.3.
Fox placed second for the night with a 2.5/7, while The X Factor managed to tick up 14% versus last week.
On The CW, the finale of Capture pulled a 0.2 rating at 9 p.m., on par with the previous night. The network finished with a 0.3/1 overall.
