Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 2/27/13

WHAT MATTERS:

• Odd final night of sweeps for CBS, where Survivor picked up some steam in week three but the crime dramas Criminal Minds and CSI had another really soft evening. Perhaps the competing NBC dramas are actually starting to wear away at this pair. Chicago Fire actually beat CSI for the first time despite the large lead-in disadvantage.

• It was also up and down on ABC, where The Middle and The Neighbors came back a bit after last week's surge, Suburgatory picked back up and Nashville hit another new low.

• American Idol was down multiple tenths for the fourth straight week and actually dropped behind Modern Family (they tied to one decimal, but Deadline numbers show Modern Family was very slightly ahead) for top broadcast program of the night.

• Cable notables:
• As you've probably already heard, it was another breakout evening for A&E's Duck Dynasty, which narrowly edged Modern Family and Idol. The show's rate of growth is pretty remarkable considering it was below a 2.0 for most of season two before spiking to a 3.0 for the season two finale. It's suddenly within a reasonable striking distance of the pinnacle rating for the original cable megahit Jersey Shore (4.7).

• USA also had some much-needed good news with a strong return from Psych (1.0), basically dead even with its last season premiere in fall 2011 and up significantly on the spring 2012 mid-season premiere. It doubled up the struggling dramas elsewhere in the slot: FX's The Americans (0.5) and TNT's Southland (0.4).  

• TNT tried a Southland-esque reality show in the 9:00 hour called Boston's Finest (1.21m, 0.4) and continued the network's recent slump. At least it edged the Monday Mornings premiere?

FULL TABLE:

Info			Show				Timeslot		True2
	Viewers	A18-49	Last	LeLa	Rank	y2y	TLa	Ty2y
The Middle	7.97	2.1	-9%	n/a	14/16	-19%	-9%	-19%	2.20
The Neighbors	6.01	1.7	-11%	-9%	14/18	n/a	-11%	-26%	1.86
Modern Family	10.53	3.9	-3%	-11%	15/17	-19%	-3%	-20%	4.11
Suburgatory	6.12	2.2	+10%	-3%	9/15	-4%	+10%	-19%	2.07
Nashville	5.20	1.6	-11%	+5%	14/14	n/a	+19%	-33%	1.45
Survivor	9.17	2.6	+8%	n/a	1/3	-10%	+8%	-12%	2.79
Criminal Minds	10.33	2.6	+0%	+8%	15/16	-16%	-2%	-16%	2.74
CSI	9.44	1.9	-17%	+0%	15/16	-27%	-17%	-25%	1.65
Whitney	3.41	1.2	+9%	n/a	7/11	-20%	+9%	-20%	1.29
Guys with Kids	3.03	1.1	+10%	+9%	13/17	n/a	+10%	-15%	1.39
Law and Order: SVU	5.44	1.6	+0%	+10%	9/15	+0%	-3%	+129%	1.95
Chicago Fire	6.62	2.0	+5%	+0%	5/17	n/a	+5%	+25%	1.91
American Idol Wed	13.30	3.9	-5%	n/a	7/7	-23%	-5%	-22%	4.08
Arrow	3.17	1.0	+11%	n/a	11/16	n/a	+11%	+33%	1.13
Supernatural	2.13	0.9	+0%	+11%	7/16	n/a	+6%	+64%	0.96

KEY (click to expand)

Viewers - The total number of viewers (age 2+, in millions) that watched the program.
A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Last - A18-49 percent difference from previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 percent difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes that have aired so far this season.
y2y - The show's A18-49 rating compared to its rating a year ago.
TLa - The show's A18-49 rating compared to the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - The show's A18-49 rating compared to the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True2 - The second edition of True Strength, a metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. PRELIMINARY CALCULATION. For finals, see SpotVault.

(R) - Repeat.

Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.

More Spotted Ratings in the Index.