AMERICAN IDOL SINKS DEEPER

Fox’s American Idol continued to bleed ratings Wednesday night. Total adult viewers fell to 8.8 million, and the talent show was handily beaten by CBS’s Survivor and Criminal Minds, which averaged 9.55 million and 10.37 million respectively. For the season, American Idol is down 23 percent from last year among the key 18-49 age group. (Wednesday’s telecast produced a 6.1 rating and a 10 share versus a 7.9/12 for the comparable date in 2013.) Tops for the night in that demo was ABC’s Modern Family with a 6.6/10. Meanwhile among the late-night shows, Jimmy Fallon remained well out in front as he featured a sketch in which he played Russia’s premiere Vladimir Putin and Sarah Palin played Sarah Palin. The show averaged 4.3 million viewers versus 2.9 million for second-place David Letterman and 2.7 million for Jimmy Kimmel.