nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, july 7, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (3.90 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1) was the network to beat last night with the season finale of the "Saturday Baseball Game of the Week" (3.90 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.0, #1).

CBS (3.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #2) then took home the silver with the return of "NYC 22" (3.15 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) followed by a second "NYC 22" (3.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and a repeat of "48 Hours Mystery" (4.53 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #2).

Next up was NBC (2.64 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.5, #3) with encores of "America's Got Talent" (2.48 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.12 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) plus the penultimate "The Firm" (2.27 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8).

And finally, ABC (1.97 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.4, #4) closed out the night with repeats of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (1.73 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4), "Ball Boys" (1.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T8) and "Castle" (2.88 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T4).

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Sofia Vergara and musical guest One Direction (2.9/8 in metered-market households), dominated its time period. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.3 rating, 6 share in adults 18-49, making it the night's #1 non-sports program in the Local People Meters, ahead of all primetime telecasts on ABC, CBS and NBC.

[NOTE: Today's numbers are courtesy of TVMediaInsights.com due to delays from our usual sources.]

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/9/11):

CBS (4.24 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then took home the silver with a new "Chaos" (2.85 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) alongside repeats of "48 Hours Mystery" (3.93 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5) and another "48 Hours Mystery" (5.94 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1).

Next up was NBC (3.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #3) with rebroadcasts of "Minute to Win It" (2.06 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (3.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #8) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3).

And finally, repeats of "101 Ways to Leave a Game Show" (2.35 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T5), "Expedition Impossible" (1.88 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T9) and "Rookie Blue" (1.90 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T11) on ABC (2.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #4) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live" (3.3/8 in metered-market households), hosted by Tina Fey with musical guest Ellie Goulding, dominated its time period.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.7 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49, making it the #1 telecast of the night ahead of all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox. Versus the same night last year, "SNL" is up 6 percent in the Local People Meters (1.7 vs. 1.6).

Source: Nielsen Media Research