Fast National ratings for Wednesday, September 11, 2013.
Despite facing less competition than last year, FOX's "The X Factor" started its third season with double-digit declines, but still combined with the "MasterChef" finale to help FOX win Wednesday.
Last year's "X Factor" premiere was a two-hour launch and the overall numbers for that premiere were depressed in their first hour against NBC's "The Voice" before getting a big bump. Comparing 8 p.m. hour to 8 p.m. hour year-to-year, "The X Factor" was down by 22 percent among young viewers and 17 percent overall.
NBC's "America's Got Talent" was still Wednesday's most-watched show, but it lost to "MasterChef" among young viewers and remains significantly down year-to-year.
For the night, FOX averaged a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49, easily winning Wednesday in the key demographic. CBS' 1.5 key demo rating was good for second, followed by NBC's 1.4 key demo rating and the 1.0 key demo rating for ABC. The CW averaged a 0.3 rating in the key demo.
Overall, FOX averaged just over 6.18 million viewers and a 3.7 rating/6 share for Wednesday primetime, while NBC averaged just under 6.18 million viewers and a 3.9/6. CBS was a close third with a 3.9/6 and 5.92 million viewers. There was a drop to ABC's 2.4/4 and 3.56 million viewers and to The CW's 0.7/1 and 1.05 million.
8 p.m. - CBS won the 8 p.m. hour with 6.68 million viewers and a 2.2 rating among adults 18-49 for "Big Brother," which was up from the comparable episode last year (against "X Factor" and "The Voice"). FOX's "The X Factor" averaged 6.17 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo rating, getting a reasonably big bump in its second half-hour. NBC's "Million Second Quiz" continued its downward trend with 5.24 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating, roughly on part with the 4.91 million viewers and 1.2 key demo rating for ABC's repeat of "Shark Tank." The CW's "Arrow" repeat averaged 1.175 million viewers and a 0.3 key demo rating.
9 p.m. - "America's Got Talent" pushed NBC into first for the 9 p.m. hour with 9.785 million viewers and finished second with a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49. FOX's "MasterChef" finale averaged 6.195 million viewers in second and won the hour with a 2.4 key demo rating. CBS was third with 5.07 million viewers for a repeat of "Criminal Minds," beating the 3.56 million viewers for ABC's "Modern Family" repeats, while both networks did a 1.1 key demo rating. The CW's "Supernatural" repeat averaged 917,000 viewers and a 0.4 key demo rating.
10 p.m. - CBS closed primetime in first with 6 million viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49 for a repeat of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." NBC's "Camp" was second with 3.5 million viewers and a 0.9 key demo rating, followed by the 2.205 million viewers and 0.5 key demo rating for ABC's "Nashville" repeat.