Airing the AMERICAN IDOL Top 9 Performance show and the premiere of new comedy BREAKING IN, FOX won the night among Adults 18-49, Total Viewers and all key demos and beat the next highest-rated network last night (CBS) by +114% in the adult demo and +75% in Total Viewers.
AMERICAN IDOL: 7.1/20, retaining 92% of last Wednesday’s Adults 18-49 (but this will likely go up one or two tenths in the finals this afternoon)
IDOL was once again Wednesday’s highest-rated program across all key demos and beat the next highest-rated program of the night (Criminal Minds) by +97% among A18-49 and +62% in Total Viewers.
Versus the comparable telecast last year (Top 9 on 4/6/10), last night’s IDOL retained 97% of Adults 18-49 and gained +8% in Total Viewers.
AMERICAN IDOL grew +18% in its last half hour vs. its first (7.7 vs. 6.5) among Adults 18-49 and +20% in Total Viewers (24.4 vs. 20.4 Mil.) last night
BREAKING IN (P): 3.5/9, up +25% in the adult demo from the post-IDOL episode of TRAFFIC LIGHT on 3/02/11 and achieved the highest post-IDOL retention of any sitcom in over four years in both Adults 18-49 and Total Viewers (since “‘Til Death” on 4/04/07)
BREAKING IN was the second highest rated program of the night among young adults, behind only AMERICAN IDOL.
Last night’s BREAKING IN premiere is the highest rated FOX live-action sitcom telecast in over three years among Adults 18-49 and among Total Viewers
BREAKING IN outperformed FOX’s prior season average so far in the Wed/930-10p time period (excluding AMERICAN IDOL) by +30% among Adults 18-49 and +52% among Total Viewers.
In the 9:30p half hour BREAKING IN ranked #2 among A18-49 and beat an original Mr. Sunshine in head to head competition by +119% among Adults 18-49 (3.5/9 vs. 1.6/4) and +115% among Total Viewers (9.9 vs. 4.6 Mil).
Competition
Following repeats of The Middle (1.3/4 and 1.3/4) and Modern Family (2.0/5), ABC’s Mr. Sunshine delivered a 1.6/4, up +14% from last week but down -30% from its prior original average (2.3/6). Closing out the night, the season finale of Off the Map (1.3/3) matched its lowest original rating, down -24% from its prior average (1.7/5).
CBS’s Survivor: Redemption Island (3.1/9) again matched its lowest original telecast ever (excluding clipshows and Thanksgiving). Survivor has matched or established regular series lows in seven of its eight telecasts this season and remains off to its weakest start ever (3.2/9), down -14% from its previous lowest installment through this point in the season (3.7/11 for both Survivor: Samoa and Survivor: Nicaragua). Criminal Minds (3.6/9, up +3%) was about average at 9p, while spinoff Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2.1/5) finished the night with its lowest performance to date, down -9% from last week.
NBC’s Minute to Win It delivered a 1.0/3 (down -17% and tied as its series low) at 8p, followed by a Law & Order: SVU repeat (0.9/2) at 9p. At 10p, an original Law & Order: SVU (2.3/6) was down -8% from last week.
Live+Same Day Nielsen Ratings
(source: FOX)
