nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, august 23, 2011)

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

NBC (9.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.4, #1) climbed to the top spot on Tuesday with new episodes of "It's Worth What?" (4.32 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7) and "America's Got Talent" (11.62 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1).

The silver then went to CBS (8.38 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T2) with repeats of "NCIS" (9.28 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4) and another "NCIS" (7.52 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4).

Next up was ABC (4.59 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T2) with a repeat of "Wipeout" (6.19 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) followed by new episodes of "Take the Money and Run" (4.11 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) and "Combat Hospital" (3.47 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.45 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up encores of a 90-minute "Glee" (2.58 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #9) and "Raising Hope" (2.06 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #10).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (0.79 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) and "Shedding for the Wedding" (0.52 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.2, #12) on The CW (0.66 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): America's Got Talent (14.8%), Take the Money and Run (14.3%), Combat Hospital (11.1%), It's Worth What? (10.0%).

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (2.8/7 in metered market households with an encore telecast) topped an original episode of CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" (2.7/7); and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.1/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: �The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,� 1.0/5 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.7/3 with an original; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households with an encore) tied a first-run of CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49 with an encore) topped an original "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

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 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/24/10):

NBC (9.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday thanks to new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (6.14 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3) and "America's Got Talent" (10.72 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1).

The silver then went to ABC (5.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) with its mix of "Wipeout" (7.94 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2), "Shaq Vs." (3.96 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) and "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (3.57 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T7).

Next up was FOX (3.94 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with repeats of "Glee" (3.92 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #6) and another "Glee" (3.96 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #5).

Meanwhile, CBS (7.09 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) offered up repeats of "NCIS" (9.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T7), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.07 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9) and "The Good Wife" (5.01 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10).

And finally, second runs of "Plain Jane" (1.12 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.4, #11) and "Life Unexpected" (0.76 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12) on The CW (0.94 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (2.6/6) split top honors with NBC's "Leno" (2.6/7), both of which edged out CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.2/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.1/4) and "Daly" (0.7/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research