CBS tops Wednesday, L&O's sink

CBS reality favorite Survivor along with Criminal Minds and The Defenders posted modest gains and led the network to win the evening, while NBC's Law & Order franchise sank to season lows.

With Fox airing repeats instead of the World Series this week, Survivor (12.3 million viewers, 3.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) was up 6%; Criminal Minds (14.4 million, 3.8) and Defenders (9.9 million, 2.3) were up about 11%.

Second-place ABC's comedy lineup was on par: The Middle (9.5 million, 2.9) and Better With You (7.9 million, 2.5) were rock steady, tying last week's season highs. Modern Family (12.2 million, 4.8) dipped slightly from last week's peak followed by a similar drop for Cougar Town (7.5 million, 3.0). At 10 p.m., a special In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts (1.9) greatly improved upon The Whole Truth's recent airings.

The dip in competition from Fox didn't help NBC. Undercovers (5.8 million, 1.3) was down another tenth. After taking a week off, Law & Order: SVU (8 million, 2.1) and Law & Order: Los Angeles (7.7 million, 1.9) both fell about 21% to season lows (with LOLA matching its low).

Following Fox's repeats, The CW's America's Next Top Model (3 million, 1.3) and Hellcats (2 million, 0.9).