Fast National ratings for Wednesday, April 28, 2010.
ABC's new drama "Happy Town" had an unimpressive premiere on Wednesday, but it probably wouldn't have mattered in the night's ratings race anyway, as "American Idol" helped FOX dominate the evening.
Among adults 18-49, FOX won Wednesday with a 4.1 rating, far ahead of the 2.4 rating for ABC in the coveted demographic. NBC's 1.9 rating nipped the 1.8 rating for CBS to finish third. The CW's 0.9 rating was fifth for the night.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 12.34 million viewers to go with a 7.3 rating/12 share. CBS was the network in distant second overall with a 5.1/9, beating the 4.2/7 for both FOX and ABC. The CW's 1.5/2 trailed.
In the 8 p.m. hour, ABC's two episodes of "The Middle" (one a repeat, the second new) and CBS' repeats of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Two and a Half Men" averaged a 4.0/7 to win the hour. The ABC comedies had the advantage in total viewers and won the hour with a 2.0 demo rating. FOX's repeat of "Lie to Me" was third with a 3.4/6 and second in the 18-49 demo. NBC's reairing of "Minute to Win It" finished fourth. The CW's "America's Next Top Model" had a solid hour with a  2.3/4 and 3.27 million viewers.
FOX won the 9 p.m. hour with an 11.2/18 and a 6.5 demo rating for "American Idol." CBS' repeat of "Criminal Minds" was second with a 5.9/9. ABC got a big performance out of "Modern Family" (5.9/9 and a 4.1 demo rating) and then a big drop from "Cougar Town" (4.2/7 and a 2.8 demo) for third. NBC's experiment moving "Mercy" to 9 p.m. yielded a 3.3/5 and a 1.4 demo rating. The CW's "Fly Girls" and "High Society" lagged in fifth.
In the 10 p.m. hour, NBC was in control with a 6.2/11 and a 2.9 demo rating for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." CBS' repeat of "CSI: NY" was second overall. The premiere of "Happy Town" on ABC did a 3.5/6 and a 1.7 demo rating, averaging 5.23 million viewers overall, but falling to under 5 million viewers in its second half-hour. Note that that's better than what "Ugly Betty" was doing in the same time slot earlier this spring and also a bigger overall audience than "V" did on Tuesday.