NBC's new comedy "Are You There, Chelsea?' premiered with decent numbers Wednesday night, while ABC swept the top four ratings spots to win the evening, according to preliminary numbers.
CBS' "The 38th Annual People's Choice Awards" at 9 posted a 2.5/7 in the demo -- a 7 percent dip from last year's telecast. The ceremony received 8.8 million total viewers. (A "Criminal Minds" repeat preceded the awards show.)
The "Chelsea" premiere at 8:30 p.m. delivered a season high in the time slot for the network, posting a 2.3 rating/6 share in the adults 18-49 demographic and 6.4 million total viewers.
"Chelsea" was preceded by "Whitney" at 8, which premiered in its new time slot with a 2.1/6 in the demo -- an 11 percent boost from its most recent airing in its previous Thursday slot five weeks ago -- and 6 million total viewers.
Following "Chelsea," "Harry's Law" at 9 jumped 17 percent from its last original episode five weeks ago, posting a 1.4/3 in the demo and 8.6 million total viewers. "Law & Order: SVU" closed the night at 10 with a 2.0/5 in the demo and 8.3 million total viewers.
The big winner of the night was ABC, which had the four top-rated shows, with "Modern Family" leading the pack. The network's night began with "The Middle" at 8, which received a 3.0/9 and 9.5 million total viewers, followed by "Suburgatory" at 8:30, which drew a 2.9/8 in the demo and 8.9 million.
Though down 11 percent versus last week, "Modern Family" at 9 was the night's hands-down victor, taking a 5.1/13 in the demo and 12.3 million total viewers, which also made it the most-watched show of the night. "Happy Endings" at 9:30 posted a 3.1/8 in the demo and 7 million total viewers, while "Revenge" at 10 drew a 2.4/6 and 7.5 million total viewers. The network averaged a 3.2/8 in the demo. (Though it was the highest-rated network, CBS was the most-watched, with 8.87 million average total viewers vs. CBS's 8.82 million.)
Fox aired a repeat of the Howie Mandel show "Mobbed" at 8, with a new episode the following hour receiving a 1.3/3 in the demo and 3.3 million total viewers.
At the CW, the season premiere of "One Tree Hill" at 8 delivered season highs for a regularly scheduled show in the time slot with a 0.9/2 in the demo and 1.7 million total viewers. Wednesday night's episode -- the first of the show's final season -- also yielded the show's best performance in the demo and total viewership since Feb 22, 2011. A "One Tree Hill" repeat followed at 9.
