With summer television beginning to wind down, Fox's Masterchef squeaked by as Wednesday's top-rated telecast on broadcast.
The competition series rose 5 percent in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic to a 2.3 rating, with its 5.5 million total viewers on par with last week's airing. The 9 p.m. original helped push Fox to the nightly 18-49 victory, with a 1.7 average rating in primetime. (An 8 p.m. encore of Masterchef drew 2.9 million and a 1.1.)
Over on CBS, another installment of Big Brother (6.3 million, 2.2) surged 10 percent from last week's comparable airing, winning the 8 p.m. time slot handily. The reality series was only second to Masterchef in adults 18-49.
NBC's America's Got Talent (9.2 million, 2.1) was flat with last week's telecast, tying a season low, which didn't help matters for lead-out Camp (3.4 million, 0.9), tying a series low. Even so, NBC was tied with CBS on the evening in adults 18-49 for second with a 1.4 average.
Like CBS, NBC and The CW, ABC aired several reruns over the course of the evening, with its only original telecast, Nightline: The Lookout (2.9 million, 0.7). That 10 p.m. telecast plunged 30 percent in the demo to tie a series low.
While Fox won the night in the 18-49 demo, NBC averaged 6.2 million viewers in primetime, topping CBS (5.5 million) and Fox (4.2 million).
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
