nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, august 16, 2011)

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

FOX (6.54 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) rose to the top on Tuesday with the penultimate episode of "Masterchef" (6.08 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) followed by the season finale of "Masterchef" (7.00 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1).

NBC (8.07 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) then claimed the silver with fresh installments of "It's Worth What?" (4.07 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #9) and "America's Got Talent" (10.06 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2).

Next up was ABC (4.24 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with a repeat of "Wipeout" (5.45 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) followed by new episodes of "Take the Money and Run" (3.63 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5) and "Combat Hospital" (3.63 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10).

Meanwhile, CBS (7.39 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) offered up repeats of "NCIS" (8.54 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #7), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.80 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6) and "Hawaii Five-0" (5.84 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #8).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.99 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) and "Shedding for the Wedding" (0.74 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12) on The CW (0.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Masterchef (12.0%), Combat Hospital (0.0%), America's Got Talent (-6.9%), It's Worth What? (-9.1%), Take the Money and Run (-22.2%).

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 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.0/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.8/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (0.9/3 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) 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 (8/17/10):

NBC (8.46 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday thanks to a repeat of "Minute to Win It" (5.24 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #5) and a new two-hour "America's Got Talent" (10.07 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2).

The silver then went to ABC (6.15 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #2) with new episodes of "Wipeout" (8.86 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) and "Shaq Vs." (5.07 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) followed by a repeat of "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.51 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4).

Next up was FOX (3.82 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with repeats of "Glee" (3.91 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6) and a second "Glee" (3.74 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6).

Meanwhile, CBS (7.16 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) was all repeats with its mix of "NCIS" (8.70 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.64 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T6) and "The Good Wife" (5.16 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10).

And finally, an encore of "Plain Jane" (1.21 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) lead into new episodes of "18 to Life" (0.80 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) and a second "18 to Life" (0.75 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T12) on The CW (0.99 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.7/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.1/5). 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" (0.8/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research