TV Ratings: CBS rules Wednesday, despite adult love for Grinch, ABC comedies

By Hanh Nguyen

December 24, 2009 9:14 AM ET

Fast National ratings for Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009

CBS' "11th Annual Home for the Holidays" adoption-awareness special hosted by Faith Hill and NBC's hour of "Jay Leno" were the only fresh programming for Wednesday night, but it was CBS' reruns of crime procedurals that eventually gave it the ratings win.

CBS topped the evening with 8.9 million viewers and a 5.7 rating/10 share in households, significantly ahead of second-place finisher ABC with 4.9 million viewers and a 3.0/5. This was followed by FOX (3.72 million, 2.3/4), ABC (3.65 million, 2.3/4) and The CW (737,000, 0.5/1).

CBS also took the 18-49 adult demo title, but just barely. Its 1.7 rating was just ahead of ABC's 1.6 from its slate of comedy reruns (and one Grinch that appealed to adult viewers as well). FOX had a 1.3, NBC a 0.9 and The CW brought up the rear with a 0.3.

Wednesday hour by hour:

8 p.m.

CBS: "11th Annual Home for the Holidays" (6.4 million viewers, 4.2/8 households)
ABC: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" repeat (6.8 million, 3.8/7), "The Middle" repeat (5.5 million, 3.1/6)
NBC: "Mercy" repeat (3.7 million, 2.3/4)
FOX: "Glee" repeat (3.6 million, 2.2/4)
The CW: "One Tree Hill" repeat (907,000, 0.6/1)

18-49 leader: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!/The Middle" (1.9)

9 p.m.

CBS: "Criminal Minds" repeat (10.2 million, 6.5/11)
ABC: "Modern Family" repeat (5.6 million, 3.3/6), "The Middle" repeat (4.3 million, 2.7/5)
FOX: "Glee" repeat (3.9 million, 2.4/4)
NBC: "Mercy" repeat (2.7 million, 41.7/3)
The CW: "Gossip Girl" repeat (567,000, 0.4/1)

18-49 leader: "Criminal Minds" (2.0)

10 p.m.

CBS: "CSI: NY" repeat (10.2 million, 6.5/12)
NBC: "The Jay Leno Show" (4.6 million, 2.9/5)
ABC: "Cougar Town" repeats (3.6 million, 2.5/4)

18-49 leader: "CSI: NY" (2.1)

Ratings information includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are preliminary and subject to change.

More ratings at Zap2it: Daily, weekly and cable

Photo credit: Warner Home Video

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| Comments (10)

Woof is the biggest POS in the world

woof shall die | December 24, 2009 9:32 AM

Wow, those are some really, really bad ratings.

Tim | December 24, 2009 10:59 AM

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ERICinHB | December 24, 2009 11:15 AM

CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK...DUH!!!! i write such interestesting and smart comments CLUCK CLUCK!!!!!!!!

ERIC the Chicken is back! | December 24, 2009 1:04 PM

You're a mean one, E the C!

Boris | December 24, 2009 1:11 PM

ERICinHB | December 24, 2009 6:29 PM

the middle is a hilarious comedy! i'm shocked it's not getting the praise it deserves!

carl | December 26, 2009 3:09 PM

Hanh, how about proofing your articles before posting them? Your second mention of "ABC" for the overall viewers/households should be "NBC".

Jacen | December 28, 2009 1:17 PM

Hey, NBC!

CBS and ABC are now in repeats at 10:00. You claimed that when that happened, fresh "Jay Leno Shows" would really perform well in the ratings.

When's that going to happen?

Alan 59 | December 30, 2009 7:25 AM

The Middle is the brightesst comedy since Frazer, but the networks will screw this up too. They gave no chance to back to you either. No wonder everyone is switching to cable. Please allow a little bit of room for truly great comedy that faMILIES CAN ACTUALLY WATCH TOGETHER...not just reruns on thirty channels.

pat | December 30, 2009 8:42 PM

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