TV Ratings: 'American Idol' Continues to Drop, 'Whitney' and 'Chelsea' Rise

Michael Becker/FOX

Preliminary ratings give American Idol a 5.9 among adults 18-49 on Wednesday night. Though the broadcast managed to grow more than a full point in the second half of the hour-long broadcast, it still marked a 9 percent drop from the previous week's 6.5. The same week last year, Idol drew a 9.0 among adults 18-49.

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Fox still scored an easy win for the night, earning a 4.4 in the adults demo with 13 million viewers. Idol's high share of the audience also boosted Mobbed, which more than doubled its rating since its last original broadcast. An Idol lead-in gave the series a 2.9 in adults 18-49.

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Drawing a 1.9 in 18-49-ers and 8.1 million viewers, CBS placed second for the night. Clip package Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials drew a 2.1 in the demo, followed by repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI.

Both Whitney and Are You There, Chelsea? were on the rise for NBC. The freshman comedies rose 21 percent from the previous week, both earning a 1.7 among adults 18-49. The comedies were followed by back-to-back repeats of Law & Order: SVU, giving the net an average of 1.5 demo rating for the night and 4.95 million viewers.

ABC's Wednesday line-up remains in repeats before returning last week. Encores tied the net with NBC's 1.5 rating in adults 18-49, with just a shade fewer viewers at 4.8 million.

The CW aired One Tree Hill, even with last week's 0.7 in adults, and Remodeled (0.3) for a 0.4 demo rating and 1.1 million viewers for the night.