'People's Choice,' 'Live to Dance' stumble in ratings

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Paula Abdul fans didn’t rush-rush back to see another episode of Live to Dance.

For its second outing, the CBS reality competition delivered 7.8 million viewers and a 1.8 preliminary adults 18-49 rating Wednesday night. That’s down 25 percent from Tuesday’s premiere and ranked the show third in the advertiser-coveted adult demo at 8 p.m.

That lead-in didn’t help CBS’ annual telecast of the People’s Choice Awards (9.5 million, 2.7), which fell 21 percent from last year as Twilight eclipsed competitors (full winners list and the most awkward moments here). This is the second lowest-rated People’s Choice yet.

Overall, ABC and NBC tied to win the night.

NBC had a fairly on par Minute to Win It (6.8 million, 2.1) followed by back-to-back episodes of Law & Order: SVU (10.7 million, 2.9) — the latter up 16 percent and ranking as the top-rated SVUs since September premiere week.

ABC’s comedy block posted across-the-board gains: The Middle (9.3 million, 2.8) was up 17 percent, Better with You (7.4 million, 2.5), and Modern Family (11.8 million, 4.8 and the night’s top-rated show) were up 14 percent and Cougar Town (6.7 million, 2.9) improved 12 percent. At 10 p.m., the network aired Primetime: Celebrity Weight Loss — What Really Happens? (4.4 million, 1.6).

Fox had two hours of Human Target (6.4 million, 1.7), up 21 percent. The CW aired repeats.