• by Wayne Friedman , October 14, 2010

CBS' major programming moves have been successful and steady so far this season; this week, it got another bit of good news in one lower-profile area: Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

Its rookie show "The Defenders" moved up to a Nielsen preliminary 2.5 rating/7 share among 18-49 viewers from a 2.2 rating the week before, now winning the time period. NBC's "Law & Order: LA" took the major hurt here -- down to a 1.9/6 from a 2.4 rating in the previous week's episode.

There is some transition in the time period: ABC's "20/20" special on the coal-mining rescue in Chile did better than the now-departed "The Whole Truth" the week before: 1.8 rating versus a 1.4 number.

All this pushed up CBS to a 3.2/9 for the night, up from a 3.1 rating in the previous week. This week -- preliminarily -- CBS is one-tenth of a rating point ahead of Fox, which has a 3.1/9, the same numbers it had a week ago.

The night's big-rated show, ABC's "Modern Family," continued to pile on the pressure at 9 p.m. -- now rising to a 4.7/13, up from a 4.5 rating the week before. Wednesday's second- and third-best-rated shows -- CBS' "Survivor: Nicaragua" and "Criminal Minds" -- both offered consistency, with the former staying the same at a 3.7/11 and the latter down a tenth of a rating point to a 3.5/9.

Other flatliners: Fox's "Hell Kitchen" from 8 to 10 p.m. delivered a 3.1/9 -- the same versus the week before. NBC's new 8 p.m. spy drama "UnderCovers" unveiled a 1.5/4, just like the previous week.

Middling players losing steam versus the previous week were: NBC's "Law & Order: SVU," down to a 2.2/6 from a 2.5; ABC's "The Middle," down to a 2.4/8 from a 2.5; and ABC's "Better for You", now at a 2.1/6 from a 2.3.

ABC also got some higher numbers from "Cougar Town," which added one-tenth of a rating point at 9:30 p.m. to a 3.2/9 from a 3.1.

CW had some good and bad news: "America's Next Top Model" grew 15% among its key women 18-34 viewers to a 2.3 rating. But "Hellcats" continued its purgatory existence, down over 10% to a 1.4 rating for women 18-34.

After CBS and Fox, ABC came in at third place for the night with a 2.7/8 (versus a 2.5 the week before); NBC was at a 1.9/5 (as a 2.2 rating in the previous week); Univision, a 1.5/4 (a 1.6 a week ago); and CW drew a 1.2/3 (a 1.1 rating in the previous week).