TV Ratings: Boosted ‘Modern Family’ Gives ABC’s ‘Parents’ a Solid Launch

American Idol's ratings continue to chip away in the middle of its twelfth cycle. The two-hour Fox broadcast was down from last Wednesday's showing among adults 18-49, though only by two tenths of a point (just one tenth from last week's Fast Nationals). It was enough to give the series another low for a performance episode. The episode averaged 11.5 million viewers.

CBS also saw small dips across the board, with Survivor (2.4 adults) down a tenth of a point and Criminal Minds (2.8 adults) and CSI (2.1 adults) both dropping by two tenths from their last originals. The network pulled a 2.4 rating with adults 18-49 and 9.9 million viewers.

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The Middle (2.0 adults) was up two tenths of a point from last week, leading into a new slot of Suburgatory (1.8 adults). The latter only lost a tenth of a point from its most recent 9:30 p.m. showing. Modern Family (4.1 adults) jumped by nearly a full point from last week (3.2 adults), giving a strong lead for the debut of How to Live With Your Parents (2.9 adults). Also helping Parents was the fact that Modern Family ran over by a minute, so adjustments when final returns come in are likely. As of now, the freshman comedy tied last year's midseason opener of Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23 in the same time period. Nashville (1.7 adults) was up two tenths of a point at 10 p.m. ABC averaged a 2.3 rating with adults 18-49 and 7.2 million viewers.

With Whitney finishing its season, Dateline (1.4 adults) moved into the 8 p.m. hour on NBC. It was up three tenths of a point from its last Sunday broadcast. After an encore of Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Fire (1.6 adults) was down a tenth of a point. NBC averaged a 1.5 rating in the demo and 6.1 million viewers.

Arrow (0.9 adults) was even on The CW, while Supernatural (0.8 adults) shed two tenths of a point from last week. The CW pulled a 0.8 adults rating and 2.4 million viewers.

Univision averaged a 1.7 rating with adults 18-49 and 3.9 million viewers.

Michael O'Connell