nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, august 9, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (6.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) was the demo champ on Tuesday thanks to new episodes of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.34 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2) and "Masterchef" (6.07 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3).

NBC (8.92 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #2) then had to settle for second place with fresh installments of "It's Worth What?" (4.44 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8) and "America's Got Talent" (11.16 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1).

Next up was ABC (4.72 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with its mix of "Wipeout" (6.11 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.9, #4), "Take the Money and Run" (4.68 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5) and "Combat Hospital" (3.38 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10).

Meanwhile, CBS (8.18 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #4) offered up its all-repeat lineup of "NCIS" (10.24 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #6), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.07 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #7) and "The Mentalist" (6.22 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T8).

And finally, The CW (0.67 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) did the same with encores of "90210" (0.76 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and "Shedding for the Wedding" (0.57 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Masterchef (4.2%), Hell's Kitchen (3.8%), America's Got Talent (0.0%), Take the Money and Run (-5.3%), It's Worth What? (-8.3%), Combat Hospital (-10.0%).

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," 3.1/8; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.9/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.6/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/3.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 1.1/5; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.5/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).

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

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/10/10):

FOX (6.61 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1) claimed the adults 18-49 crown on Tuesday with the season finale of "Hell's Kitchen" (7.09 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) and the Wednesday-bound "Masterchef" (6.12 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.7, #3).

NBC (8.60 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #2) then took home the silver with a repeat of "Minute to Win It" (5.02 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and a two-hour "America's Got Talent" (10.38 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2).

Next up was ABC (5.33 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3) with new episodes of "Wipeout" (7.91 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #4) and "Shaq Vs." (3.86 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T7) followed by a repeat of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.23 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5).

Meanwhile, CBS (6.96 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) was all repeats with its mix of "NCIS" (8.60 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T7), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9) and "The Good Wife" (4.90 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10).

And finally, a repeat of "Plain Jane" (1.29 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.5, #11) lead into new episodes of "18 to Life" (0.75 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) and a second "18 to Life" (0.78 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) on The CW (1.03 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.0/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.3/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.4/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.1/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/5) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research