Primetime Ratings: Fox, CBS Top Wednesday; NBC Struggles

Fox and CBS tied for first place Wednesday night at
a 3.1 rating/9 share with adults 18-49, though ratings drops across the board once
again marked the evening.

Fox managed to emerge unscathed Wednesday night,
with its two-hour Hell's Kitchen up 7% from last week to a 3.1/9 with
adults 18-49. CBS' Survivor: Nicaragua was also up a tick to a 3.6/11
with the same demo.

The rest of CBS' programming did not fare as well--Criminal
Minds dropped 3% from last week to a 3.5/9 with adults 18-49 and The
Defenders stumbled down to a 2.1/6 and 9.29 million viewers, a 16%
drop from last week and CBS' lowest-rated telecast in the time slot since
2003. 

ABC came in second with The Whole Truth
evading cancelation (for now) with a substantial 17% increase to a 1.4/4 with
key adults and 4.5 million viewers. The net's comedy block was a mixed bag,
with The Middle down 5% to 2.4/8, newcomer Better With You up a
tenth to 2.3/7 with adults 18-49 and Modern Family staying flat vs. last
week. Cougar Town enjoyed a jump in the numbers, up 11% to a 3.1/8 and
7.2 million viewers.

In was NBC, whose Undercovers continued to
suffer as it fell another tenth this week, down to a 1.5/4 with adults 18-49
and 6.2 million viewers. Law & Order: SVU fell 11% to a 2.5/7 with
the same demo and Law & Order: Los Angeles struggled in its second
week, dropping 25% with adults 18-49 to a 2.4/7 and 8.2 million viewers. But
despite the slump, LOLA still managed to take the top slot in the 10
p.m. hour.

On the CW, Hellcats couldn't hold its form and tumbled 25% with
adults 18-49 to a 0.9/3; the cheer drama was also down in its target women
18-34 demo to a 1.6. America's Next Top Model pulled a 1.3/4 with adults
18-49 and 2.9 million viewers.