The Sked: WEDNESDAY RATINGS October 19

The fast nationals for Wednesday give Game 1 of the World Series a 3.9 Adult 18-49 rating (yet to be time zone adjusted).  Last night we predicted a 3.8 in the fast nationals and a 4.1 in the official nationals.  This number keeps it from being the worst Game 1 rating in history...just the second worst. 

The second lowest-rated Game 1 in MLB history will be enough to give FOX a win on the night, and the performance is on par with an X Factor original episode.  At least, FOX isn't forced into the unenviable position of replacing a higher-rated show for the Fall Classic.

ABC's Modern Family takes the crown as the highest rated show of the night (a 5.6 in the fast nationals and probably a 5.7 in the official ratings later today).  The other comedies were near their recent levels (The Middle 2.9, Suburgatory 3.1, Happy Endings 3.0), while Revenge dropped back down to a 2.5 (from a 2.7 last week).  Given the heavy promotional support Revenge continues to receive, this is probably a bitter pill for ABC to swallow.  For the night, ABC averaged a 3.3 rating.

CBS also averaged a 3.3 Wednesday, up one tenth from last week.  Survivor (3.3) and Criminal Minds (3.9) were each up one tenth, while CSI (2.6) was flat.

NBC averaged a 1.7 for the night, the same rating the network has turned in for three weeks.  Up All Night's birth episode did not pop a number (2.1), and the Whitney repeat (1.2) drifted down two tenths to Harry's Law reliable rating (Jason Alexander guest starring couldn't push Harry's above that 1.2 rating).  Another promo note, the spot at the end of Up All Night announcing that Whitney was coming up said "Whitney airs after The Office -- next on NBC".  Clearly a recycled spot, the voiceover wasn't changed for Wednesday night.  The error certainly didn't cause viewers to flee at 8:30, but it is one of those details that should be done correctly on network television.