nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, january 12, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 22 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (9.03 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1) was the network to beat last night with its mix of "The Middle" (10.50 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #3), "The Middle/ABC News Special" (8.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #T4), "ABC News Special/Modern Family" (10.27 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2), "Modern Family" (10.14 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) and the premiere of "Off the Map" (7.51 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.2, #6).

NBC (6.31 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) then took home the silver with its combination of "Minute to Win It" (5.57 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T7), "Minute to Win It/NBC News Special" (5.35 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T7), "NBC News Special/Minute to Win It" (5.25 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T11), "Minute to Win It" (4.90 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T11) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8.39 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #T4).

Next up was CBS (6.17 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) and its revised lineup of "The Big Bang Theory" (6.14 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #10), "Rules of Engagement/CBS News Special" (5.57 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T14), "CBS News Special/Live to Dance" (6.36 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T14), "Live to Dance" (5.93 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T14), "Live to Dance/The Defenders" (6.90 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T7) and "The Defenders" (6.13 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T11).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.43 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) had its own last-minute mix of "Raising Hope" (3.16 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 1.0, #17), "Raising Hope/FOX News Special" (2.19 million viewers, #20; adults 18-49: 0.6, #21), "FOX News Special/Kitchen Nightmares" (2.53 million viewers, #18; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T18) and "Kitchen Nightmares" (1.85 million viewers, #21; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T18).

And finally, repeats of "Nikita" (2.42 million viewers, #19; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T18) and "Hellcats" (1.80 million viewers, #22; adults 18-49: 0.5, #22) on The CW (2.11 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes, due to the overall disruption to last night's lineups, will not be posted today.

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/7) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.1/6, delayed by news coverage) and NBC's "Leno" (2.9/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.8/6) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/5, delayed by news coverage) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/4) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/13/10):

FOX (21.78 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 8.5, #1) not surprisingly towered over the competition on Wednesday thanks to a 90-minute "American Idol" (26.34 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 10.1, #1) and a repeat of "The Simpsons" (8.09 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T3).

A distant second place then went to CBS (11.35 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) with its mix of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (6.25 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9), "Gary Unmarried" (5.80 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T9), "Criminal Minds" (13.97 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.9, #2) and "CSI: NY" (14.08 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T3).

Next up was ABC (5.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3) with a repeat of "Modern Family" (5.32 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.7, #11) followed by new episodes of "The Middle" (6.09 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.1, #7), "Modern Family" (7.85 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.2, #5), "Cougar Town" (7.40 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.1, #6) and "Ugly Betty" (4.48 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12).

Meanwhile, NBC (6.31 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) offered up fresh installments of "Mercy" (5.88 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.5, #14), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.69 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #8) and "The Jay Leno Show" (5.37 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #T12).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (0.91 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) and "Gossip Girl" (0.53 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #16) on The CW (0.72 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research