It was a battle of the TV titans last night and no one walked out of the arena unscathed. First of all, CBS’ Survivor (2.4/7) returned for its 26th season Wednesday, but it did not come back strong. The 90-minute premiere of Survivor: Caramoan – Fans vs. Favorites was down 23% from last year’s winter debut, marking the series’ lowest-rated series premiere ever. About 8.96 million watched. Meanwhile, head-to-head with Survivor last night was that other seasoned reality heavyweight: Five weeks into its 12th season, American Idol (4.3/12) started its Girls Only Hollywood Week on Wednesday. Slipping 7% from last week’s show, last night’ marked the lowest adults 18-49 Idol Wednesday since July 10, 2002, and its least-watched Wednesday since August 7, 2002 — from the show’s first season. Still, Idol was the night’s most-watched show with 13.37 million tuning in.

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CBS followed Survivor last night with a repeat of The Big Bang Theory (1.6/4) and a new CSI (2.1/6), which fell 13% from last week to a series low for the 13-season investigative drama.

On ABC, The Middle (1.9/6) fell 17% from last week’s show to hit a season low. The Neighbors (1.7/5) was flat with its February 6 show while Modern Family (3.8/10) rose a slight 3%. Out of the Idol and Survivor slot storm, Suburgatory (2.2/6) saw a rise of 10% from last week and Nashville (1.8/5) bopped up 6%.

NBC’s Whitney (1.2/4) was flat with last week, but Guys With Kids (1.0/3) slide 17% to hit a new low for the freshman comedy. Law & Order: SVU (1.6/4) was up 7% from last week and Chicago Fire (1.9/5) stayed flat.

The CW had originals of Arrow (1.1/3), which was up a tenth from last week, and Supernatural (1.0/3), which was flat with its February 6 airing.

Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here.