Preliminary Ratings: Wednesday 01/06/2016

Kicking off its final season, AMERICAN IDOL lead FOX to a Wednesday night victory. The two hour premiere drew 10.9 million viewers, a 2.1 rating in Adults 18-34, a 3.0 rating in Adults 18-49 and a 3.9 rating in Adults 25-54. All #1 on the night. Compared to last year, that is down 300k in total viewers and about 7 % in the A18-49 demographic.

ABC took the #2 spot on the night, with the four sitcoms doing relatively well in their 2016 returns. MODERN FAMILY was the #2 program of the night, in the three demos and the 8 p.m. comedies were #2 in their time slot. Things did not go as well for the season premiere of AMERICAN CRIME, with just 4.7 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in the A18-49 demo. That makes it the second lowest rated original program on the night. Last year the series premiered with 8.4 million viewers and a 2.0 demo rating.

NBC edged out CBS for the #3 spot, with all three dramas doing about their season averages and increases for LAW & ORDER and CHICAGO FIRE since their last original episodes, on Nov. 18, 2015.

The premiere of the Wednesday comedy block did not do so well for CBS. They ranked third in their time slot, in the three demo ratings, beating only THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA. The final season premiere for MIKE & MOLLY was down one million viewers and 20% in the A18-49 demo, from its 2014 premiere, on Monday, December 8. The block is not much more than filler/burnoff until the spring edition of SURVIVOR premieres, in February.

Preliminary L+SD Network Averages:

	Total viewers	A18-34	A18-49	A25-54
ABC	6.40 million	1.3	1.9	2.4
CBS	6.20 million	1.0	1.4	1.9
CW	1.00 million	0.3	0.3	0.4
FOX	10.90 million	2.1	3.0	3.9
NBC	7.80 million	1.0	1.6	2.1

Time	Net	Program	Viewers*	A18-34	A18-49	A25-54
8:00	ABC	The Middle	7.80	1.5	2.1	2.7
8:30	ABC	The Goldbergs	6.60	1.4	2.1	2.6
9:00	ABC	Modern Family	8.30	2.1	2.7	3.4
9:30	ABC	Black-ish	6.30	1.4	2.1	2.6
10:00	ABC	American Crime (SP)	4.70	0.8	1.2	1.6
8:00	CBS	2 Broke Girls	6.30	1.0	1.7	2.3
8:30	CBS	Mike & Molly (SP)	6.70	0.8	1.6	2.3
9:00	CBS	People Choice Awards	6.10	1.0	1.3	1.7
8:00	CW	Arrow [R]	1.10	0.3	0.3	0.4
9:00	CW	Supernatural [R]	0.90	0.2	0.3	0.4
8:00	FOX	American Idol (SP)	10.90	2.1	3.0	3.9
8:00	NBC	Mysteries of Laura	6.90	0.7	1.1	1.5
9:00	NBC	Law & Order: SVU	7.80	1.2	1.8	2.2
10:00	NBC	Chicago PD	8.70	1.2	1.9	2.5

* - in millions