Fox's overhauled The X Factor returned for its second
season Wednesday night to a 3.4 rating with adults 18-49, down 23% over its
first season premiere, according to Nielsen overnight numbers.
The two-hour debut, which featured new judges Britney Spears
and Demi Lovato, aired against the third night of NBC's The Voice, which
also posted a 3.4 demo rating. In head-to-head competition from 8-9 p.m.
though, The Voice topped X Factor's 2.7 rating for the hour and
drew 10.7 million total viewers to Factor's 7.5 million.
The Voice was also hurt by The X Factor's
presence, however; its 3.4 rating was down13% from the previous night's episode.
Fox still won the night thanks to softer performances from
the rest of NBC's lineup, including the premiere of new comedy Guys With
Kids, which turned in a 2.2 rating and 6.3 million viewers at 10 p.m. The
Voice lead-in helped part one of the finale of America's Got Talent, which grew
21% from its last episode to a 2.9. NBC was second overall with a 2.7/8 share.
CBS was third with a 1.5/5 and a new Big Brother
posted a 2.0, down a tenth from last week. ABC was fourth with a 0.9/3 from its
lineup of repeats.
The CW trailed with a 0.3/1, with Oh Sit! even with
last week at a 0.4.
