nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, july 6, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (6.34 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) reclaimed the top spot on Wednesday with a new two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2).

NBC (7.90 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) then got bumped to second place with the return of "Minute to Win It" (5.32 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4) followed by new episodes of "America's Got Talent" (12.51 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #1) and "Love in the Wild" (5.68 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3).

Next up was CBS (5.83 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with encores of "Undercover Boss" (4.32 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10), "Criminal Minds" (6.01 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (7.16 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T4).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.23 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up its mix of "The Middle" (4.22 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9), "The Middle" (3.91 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10), "Modern Family" (3.85 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8), "Happy Endings" (2.54 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12) and a new "Primetime Nightline" (5.42 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.07 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) and another "America's Next Top Model" (0.91 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T13) on The CW (0.99 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): So You Think You Can Dance (26.30%), Primetime Nightline (8.30%), Minute to Win It (7.70% vs. 6/8/11), America's Got Talent (-12.50%), Love in the Wild (-13.60%).

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," 2.8/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.1/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.2/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.7/4 in 18-49) with an encore topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.5/4 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/7/10):

NBC (8.15 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday thanks to the return of "Minute to Win It" (6.95 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) followed by a new "America's Got Talent" (11.78 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) and a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.73 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #5).

The silver then went to FOX (6.32 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) with fresh installments of "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.32 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.3, #3) and a second "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.33 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2).

Next up was CBS (5.70 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with repeats of "How I Met Your Mother" (3.78 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9), "Rules of Engagement" (3.81 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10), "Criminal Minds" (6.55 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6) and "CSI: NY" (6.75 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.18 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) was out of the hunt with its all-repeat lineup of "The Middle" (4.43 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10), another "The Middle" (4.45 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10), "Modern Family" (4.52 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8), "Cougar Town" (3.01 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #13) and "Castle" (4.34 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #14).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.38 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.6, #15) and another "America's Next Top Model" (1.14 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.5, #16) on The CW (1.26 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research