Whitney Cummings is back at NBC. How did Whitney do in its return to the schedule?
In its Wednesday time slot -- for part of last season, the sitcom aired as part of NBC's comedy block on Thursdays -- Whitney didn't exactly produce outstanding numbers. In fact, Whitney (4.2 million total viewers, 1.4 rating in adults 18-49) drew about the same numbers as canceled freshman comedy Animal Practice (5.2 million, 1.4) in the same period and was way down from last year's series debut (3.3) and even the finale (1.6). Whitney's return didn't affect the performance of Guys With Kids (3.8 million, 1.3), which remained steady.
Law & Order: SVU (5.7 million, 1.6) dipped 6 percent. Chicago Fire (5.7 million, 1.6) -- which received a full-season pickup last week following an uptick in the ratings post-The Voice -- saw a steep 27 percent drop, solidifying that lead-ins matter, don't they?
Fox's The X Factor (8.1 million, 2.9) rose double digits from the previous week, pushing the network to win the evening among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demo. CBS' Survivor (10 million, 2.6 million) dropped 7 percent, while Criminal Minds (12.1 million, 3.0) was flat. CSI (10.8 million, 2.4) bucked the trend, rising 4 percent.
The CW's Arrow (3.8 million, 1.2) produced its second most-watched episode of the season, behind only the series debut. Supernatural (2.3 million, 1.0) matched season highs in key demos, including adults 18-34 and 18-49.
ABC's entire lineup was on a downward trend. The Middle (8.7 million, 2.5) dipped 7 percent, The Neighbors (6.7 million, 1.9) dropped 10 percent, the evening's top-rated program Modern Family (11.9 million, 4.6) was down slightly, Suburgatory (7.2 million, 2.4) saw a 17 percent downturn, and Nashville (5.9 million, 1.8) stumbled 10 percent.
CBS won the viewers battle with an average of 11 million, followed by Fox (8.1 million), ABC (7.7 million), NBC (5.2 million) and The CW (3.1 million).
In adults 18-49, Fox topped the evening with a 2.9 rating, followed by CBS (2.7), ABC (2.5), NBC (1.5) and The CW (1.1).
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
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