Top Chef 4 finale leads cable, Celebrity Circus leads networks among viewers 18-49

Two reality shows that aired in the 10 p.m. hour on Wednesday did well for their respective NBC Universal-owned networks, particularly in the key demographic group.

On Bravo, Top Chef 4‘s finale was watched by 3.508 million viewers, 14 percent more than watched season three’s finale. Still, that’s down from season two, which had 3.896 million viewers. With 2.533 million viewers ages 18 to 49, it was “the most watched cable telecast of the day in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research,” Bravo said in a press release.

On NBC, Celebrity Circus, which first showed its crappy Dancing with the Stars rip-off face at 9:30, was watched by 6.5 million viewers, and it “held its demo audience throughout its 90 minutes, standing as the top-rated broadcaster in the 10 o’clock hour among 18-49,” Variety reports. Media Life says “it did decline in total viewers from 9:30 to 11” but still “[won] its 10 p.m. timeslot, albeit against weak competition.”

Speaking of Celebrity Circus, it came off as really lazy, the most obvious copy of Dancing with the Stars yet. Joey Fatone did okay, even if he was overeager, but the judges are an embarrassing joke. The worst part was that in their desperation to rip off ABC, Celebrity Circus‘ producers ignored the most interesting part of their own format: the training. Instead, the performances were mediocre, especially if you’ve ever seen any of those circus acts in real life, and the training part was relegated to brief clips, which only works on Dancing because those segments are about the relationships between the pro and celebrity, not about the actual practice. Because the show didn’t give viewers a reason to care, I’d guess it’ll drop viewers next week, but then again, I watch The Mole and most of America does not.