nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, july 18, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (5.08 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #1) was the demo winner on Wednesday thanks to a new two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.08 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3).

CBS (5.40 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) then claimed the silver with a new "Big Brother 14" (5.61 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (5.07 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (5.53 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7).

Next up was NBC (5.22 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with a new "America's Got Talent" (7.48 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) bookended by repeats of "Betty White's Off Their Rockers" (4.67 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7), "Up All Night" (2.85 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T12) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.44 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T7).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.91 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (3.88 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T12), "Suburgatory" (3.20 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #11), "Modern Family" (3.97 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5), another "Modern Family" (3.99 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) plus a new "Final Witness" (4.21 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #6).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (0.92 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (0.88 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T14) on The CW (0.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Top Model" delivered a 0.4 rating at 8:00/7:00c and a 0.4 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+9.09% - Final Witness
0.00% - America's Got Talent
-5.26% - So You Think You Can Dance

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+33.33% - Final Witness (vs. Primetime Nightline)
-5.26% - So You Think You Can Dance
-24.00% - Big Brother 14
-26.92% - America's Got Talent

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

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.6/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.4/2; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/20/11):

FOX (5.41 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) edged out the competition on Wednesday thanks to a two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.41 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3).

CBS (6.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) then snagged a close second with its mix of "Big Brother 13" (7.02 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2), "Criminal Minds" (6.23 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (7.32 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4).

Next up was NBC (6.19 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with an encore of "It's Worth What?" (4.14 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) followed by new episodes of "America's Got Talent" (9.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and "Love in the Wild" (4.55 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.60 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (4.32 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9), "Modern Family" (4.10 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8), another "Modern Family" (4.13 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #7), "Happy Endings" (2.64 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) and a new "Primetime Nightline" (3.22 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (0.95 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (0.99 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) on The CW (0.97 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): So You Think You Can Dance (5.6%), Primetime Nightline (0.0%), Big Brother 13 (-3.8%), America's Got Talent (-7.1%), Love in the Wild (-11.8%).

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

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 2.6/6; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.8/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/3; "Late Show," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research