At 8pm, ABC’s The Middle finished #2 to Idol in viewers and young adults.
Up against Fox with a 2-hour American Idol airing during prime, ABC ranked #2 on Wednesday night among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34, beating CBS by 36% and NBC by 46% on the latter measure.
Building for the 3rd straight week in viewers (+7%) and young adults (+9%), The Middle drew its biggest audience in 11 weeks and equaled its top Adult 18-49 number in 14 weeks – since 3/2/11 and 2/9/11, respectively. In addition, the ABC sophomore comedy hit a 4-month high among key Men (M18-34/M18-49)
Season to date, ABC’s The Middle stands as TV’s 2nd-biggest year-to-year gainer (behind only Modern Family) among returning broadcast series, surging by 23% in Total Viewers over its performance in the 8:30pm half-hour last season.
At 8:30pm, a repeat telecast of The Middle took second place in its half-hour among Adults 18-49, beating out CBS’ replay Criminal Minds by 20% and NBC’s original Minute to Win It by 64%.
Jumping 38% over its most-recent 8:30pm encore (on 4/6/11) in Adults 18-49, ABC’s The Middle posted its 3rd-highest repeat number season.
Surging over its lead-in against the third half-hour of Idol at 9pm, ABC’s Modern Family was the top-rated scripted show in its slot among Adults 18-49, beating runner-up CBS’ season finale of Criminal Minds by 25%.
TV’s #1 comedy and the highest-rated scripted series this season, ABC’s Modern Family ran as Wednesday’s #1 scripted show for its 23rd consecutive original airing this season in the key young adult sales demographic.
Season to date, ABC’s Modern Family is the fastest-growing television show on the broadcast nets, increasing over the same point last season by 24% in Total Viewers and by 23% in Adults 18-49.
(source: ABC)
