nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, december 15, 2010)

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

CBS (12.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1) was the network to beat with its all original lineup of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.38 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #1), "Criminal Minds" (13.80 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) and "The Defenders" (10.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6).

NBC (7.87 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) then claimed the silver with the penultimate night of "The Sing-Off" (8.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) followed by a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.86 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6).

Next up was FOX (5.84 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) with a new "Human Target" (5.79 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T9) and the season finale of "Hell's Kitchen" (5.90 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #4).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.76 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) offered up its all-repeat lineup of "The Middle" (5.76 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T9), "Better With You" (4.53 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T11), "Modern Family" (5.88 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6), another "Modern Family" (5.87 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5), "Cougar Town" (3.50 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T11) and another "Cougar Town" (3.04 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.37 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) and another "The Vampire Diaries" (1.26 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) on The CW (1.31 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Hell's Kitchen (13.00%), The Sing-Off (11.50%), The Defenders (0.00%), Survivor: Nicaragua (-2.80%), Human Target (-6.30%), Criminal Minds (-8.60%)

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (3.4/8) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.6/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.8/6) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/16/09):

CBS (11.99 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) claimed top honors on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (7.82 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.4, #5), "Gary Unmarried" (7.92 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #4), "Criminal Minds" (14.60 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) and "CSI: NY" (13.50 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2).

The silver then went to FOX (7.03 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) with the two-hour season finale of "So You Think You Can Dance" (7.03 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #3).

Next up was NBC (6.23 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) with night three of "The Sing-Off" (6.87 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.1, #7), a second hour of "The Sing-Off" (6.36 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.2, #6) and a new "The Jay Leno Show" (5.46 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.6, #12).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.92 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) offered up repeats of "Disney's Prep & Landing" (6.79 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #8), "The Middle" (5.51 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #11), "Modern Family" (5.22 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.9, #9), "Cougar Town" (4.62 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.8, #10) and a new "Eastwick" (3.69 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.34 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #15) and another "The Vampire Diaries" (1.38 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) on The CW (1.36 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research