Wednesday Ratings Scorecard: Fox Inches Past ABC and NBC

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Rating/Share
Fox: 4.7 rating/8 share, ABC and NBC: 4.6/ 8 each, CBS: 4.0/ 7, CW: 1.5/ 2

Note: Comparisons to the year-ago evening are not available at press time.

Ratings Breakdown:
Fox led this first Wednesday in February in the household overnights, inching past second-place ABC and NBC by one-tenth of a rating. “American Idol” topped the night at a 6.3 rating/10 share from 8-9 p.m., and it led into a 3.2/ 5 for “Hell’s Kitchen” at 9 p.m. Comparably, retention for “Hell’s Kitchen” out of the 8:30 p.m. portion of “American Idol” was lacking at just 50 percent.

On ABC, part one of miniseries “Madoff,” starring Richard Dreyfuss, was on the overnight map with a 5.5/8 in households from 8-10 p.m. While the audience skew is expected to be older, what was impressive about these household overnights was only a 0.4 rating point fluctuation from the first half-hour (5.7/ 9 at 8 p.m.) to the last half-hour (5.3/ 8 at 9:30 p.m.). “Madoff” concludes this evening.

ABC’s sophomore “American Crime” finished in the distant No. 3 spot in the 10 p.m. hour with a 3.1/ 5, which trailed competing “Chicago PD” on NBC (4.7/ 8) and “Code Black” on CBS (4.5/ 8) by 34 percent and 31 percent, respectively. Overnight retention for “American Crime” out of the 9:30 p.m. portion of “Madoff” was lacking at 58 percent.

Over at CBS, sitcoms “2 Broke Girls” (#4: 4.0/ 6) and soon-to-conclude “Mike & Molly” (#4: 4.2/ 7) from 8-9 p.m. led into a 3.5/ 5 for an encore telecast of “Criminal Minds” from 9-10 p.m. What was impressive about aforementioned “Code Black” at 10 p.m. (4.5/ 8) was growth out of the “Criminal Minds” second-run of 41 percent. My crystal ball tells me there will be a third season of “Code Black.”

NBC, meanwhile, opened the evening with older-skewing sophomore drama “The Mysteries of Laura” (#3: 4.5/ 7 at 8 p.m.) into a second-place 4.8/ 8 (#2) for just renewed “Law & Order: SVU.” An option for a third season of “The Mysteries of Laura” could be a Friday night time period. And “Arrow” on The CW (#5: 1.8/ 3 at 8 p.m.) led into a 1.3/ 2 (#5) at 9 p.m. for the show that will just not end, “Supernatural.”