TV ratings: ‘American Idol’ dominates; ‘Super Fun Night’ falls

Fox dominated Wednesday night’s TV ratings with “American Idol,� which drew an average of 12.4 million viewers and a rating of 3.8 among the key 18-49 age group, according to early numbers from Nielsen.

With the advertiser-coveted young-adult viewers, the veteran singing contest was down just 5% from last week’s episode and was easily the highest-rated show of the night. Fox’s average 18-49 number of 3.8 more than doubled the closest competing broadcaster.

That’s partly due to the lack of original episodes of some of the usually high-rated shows, including ABC’s “Modern Family� and CBS’ “Criminal Minds� and “CSI.� CBS’ only original was the “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials� compilation, which brought in 9.5 million viewers and a rating of 1.9 in 18-49, representing a slight decrease from a year ago.

PHOTOS: Cable versus broadcast ratings

Repeat episodes of “The Middle� and “Modern Family� didn’t help ABC’s other comedies. Following the “The Middle� rerun, “Suburgatory� garnered a 1.5 in the key demographic, down 17% from last week, and “Super Fun Night� scored its lowest-ever rating (1.3) after the “Modern Family� encore. ABC’s bright spot for the night was “Nashville,� which grew 7% to a 1.5.

On NBC, “Revolution� fell 13% from last week to a 1.3, but “Law & Order: SVU� and the new “Chicago PD� both improved. With a 1.9 in 18-49, “SVU� increased 6% from a week ago, and the “Chicago Fire� spinoff rose 6% to a 1.7. “Chicago PD� has risen in two of the first three telecasts after the series debuted.

With both “Arrow� and “Tomorrow People� showing improvements over last week, the CW was up 13% in total viewers with an average of 2.19 million for the night. It was also up 14% in 18-49.

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