nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, august 24, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

NBC (7.28 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with fresh installments of "Minute to Win It" (5.68 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and "America's Got Talent" (10.73 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T1) followed by a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.44 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4).

CBS (6.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) then claimed the silver with a new "Big Brother 13" (7.70 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #T1) alongside repeats of "Criminal Minds" (5.22 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (6.08 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8).

Next up was ABC (4.22 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with encores of "The Middle" (4.27 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #11), "Modern Family" (4.59 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5), "Modern Family" (4.80 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) and a special "Happy Endings" (3.11 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #7) followed by a new "Primetime Nightline" (4.28 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.05 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) was out of the hunt despite the launch of "Buried Treasure" (3.65 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12) and a repeat of "House" (2.46 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.13 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (0.88 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) on The CW (1.01 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) closed out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Minute to Win It (25.0%), America's Got Talent (16.7%), Primetime Nightline (0.0%), Big Brother 13 (-9.7%).

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," 2.4/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.7/7 with an original; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4 with an encore.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4 with an encore; "Late Show," 0.6/3 with an original; "Nightline," 1.0/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., an encore telecast of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.1/4 in metered-market households) trailed a first-run of CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 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 0.7/3 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 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (8/25/10):

FOX (5.08 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1) took home the adults 18-49 crown on Wednesday thanks to a new "Masterchef" (4.92 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) and a second hour of "Masterchef" (5.25 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3).

Second place then went to NBC (7.41 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) with new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (6.29 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5) and "America's Got Talent" (10.31 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) followed by a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.63 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6).

Next up was CBS (6.90 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3) with a new "Big Brother 12" (7.88 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1) and repeats of "Criminal Minds" (6.62 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T6) and "CSI: NY" (6.19 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.78 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (4.29 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T11), another "The Middle" (4.49 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9), "Modern Family" (4.09 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8), "Cougar Town" (3.17 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T11) and "Castle" (3.33 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13).

And finally, a repeat of "America's Next Top Model" (1.36 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) lead into the penultimate week of "Plain Jane" (1.13 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) on The CW (1.24 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (2.7/6) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.5/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.4/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.2/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/4) and "Daly" (0.8/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research