CBS' 'Minds' leads Wednesday ratings

Numbers climb for NBC's 'Mercy,' 'SVU'

By RICK KISSELL

Wednesday's 'Criminal Minds' was the night's top-rated program with 13.7 million viewers overall.

CBS drama "Criminal Minds" stood out from the crowd on Wednesday, ruling as the night's top show and helping the Eye earn a share of the demo lead with Fox. Also of note on a night when most shows dipped a bit were increases for NBC dramas "Mercy" and "Law & Order: SVU."

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, Fox led the night's opening hour in demos with "So You Think You Can Dance" (2.6 rating/8 share in adults 18-49, 6.8 million viewers overall), which dipped slightly week to week but still won out over CBS comedies "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (2.1/6 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall) and "Gary Unmarried" (2.2/6 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall), which were in line with last week, and NBC's "Mercy" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall), which edged up a tick for the second straight week. ABC ran fourth for the hour as its comedies "Hank" (1.5/5 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall) and "The Middle" (2.0/6 in 18-49, 6.4 million viewers overall) were down a smidge.

CBS moved to the lead at 9 p.m. with "Criminal Minds" (3.6/9 in 18-49, 13.7 million viewers overall), which was Wednesday's No. 1 program in 18-49 and total viewers; the show remains potent in spite of an increasingly strong challenge for the crime drama audience from NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (2.9/7 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall), which hit a season high. Fox's "Glee" was down a bit but ran second for its hour among 18-49ers (3.2/8 in 18-49, 7.2 million viewers overall), tied with ABC's comedy block of "Modern Family" (3.3/9 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall) and "Cougar Town" (3.0/8 in 18-49, 7.4 million viewers overall), which hit season lows but remain competitive.

It was no contest at 10 p.m., where CBS cruised with "CSI: NY" (3.0/8 in 18-49, 12.6 million viewers overall) opposite ABC's "Eastwick" (1.7/5 in 18-49, 4.9 million viewers overall), which was flat week to week, and NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" (1.5/4 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall), which hit a Wednesday low.

At CW, "America's Next Top Model" (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.1 million viewers overall) was flat or up in various categories week to week, while the 9 p.m. repeat of "Melrose Place" (0.5/1 in 18-49, 1.0 million viewers overall) also grew from its tiny numbers of the previous week.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 2.9/10; Fox, 2.9/10; ABC, 2.2/6; NBC, 2.1/6; Univision, 1.5/4; CW, 1.0/3.

In total viewers: CBS, 11.1 million; NBC, 7.2 million; Fox, 7.0 million; ABC, 6.3 million; Univision, 3.9 million; CW, 2.1 million.