Ratings: ‘Back in the Game’ premiere okay as ‘X Factor’ USA rises, ‘Revolution’ falls

Want some surprises from last night’s schedule? Well, there are definitely a few things in here that we did not predict going into this week. For example, we pictured “The X Factor” flopping like a fish after premiering weak, and now facing more competition; instead, it drew a season-high 2.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which to us suggests that people just did not realize that the show was even on last week. On a week where “Survivor” slid to a 2.3, this was enough for it to fare pretty well. We’d said it was #1 at 8:00 p.m., but since its ratings are for the two hours there is no way to prove that.

Elsewhere, we also had a shocker in “Law & Order: SVU” starting off with a stunning 2.7 rating for a franchise that looked on its last legs. Was this all thanks to the nature of the episode? Maybe, but it built pretty dramatically on “Revolution,” which started season 2 with a 1.8 that matched its previous series low. (Still, we expected even worse given the lack of a “Voice” lead-in.)

Over on ABC, “Back in the Game” started off okay with a 2.2, which kept most of the lead-in around for “The Middle.” The bigger surprise to us is “Modern Family” losing so many of its viewers year to year. A 4.1 vs. a 5.5 last year is proof that this show has lost a step or two from the monster it used to be. Meanwhile, “Nashville” dropped down to a 2.1 rating that is, like “Modern Family,” acceptable but down a good margin from what it was previously.

The biggest things to watch here will come with the “Super Fun Night” premiere next week, along with seeing if “The X Factor” plummets after baseball puts it on hiatus, as it often does with many other shows on Fox.