nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for tuesday, september 6, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

NBC (9.19 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) was the network to beat on Tuesday with the penultimate weeks of "It's Worth What?" (4.71 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7) and "America's Got Talent" (11.43 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1).

CBS (8.44 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) then claimed the silver with its all-repeat lineup of "NCIS" (9.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.95 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) and another "NCIS: Los Angeles" (7.04 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5).

Next up was ABC (4.36 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with a repeat of "Wipeout" (5.99 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) followed by the season finales of "Take the Money and Run" (3.85 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and "Combat Hospital" (3.25 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #8).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) didn't get mark spark from its repeat mix of "Glee" (2.53 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9), "Raising Hope" (2.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9) and another "Raising Hope" (2.15 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T9).

And finally, repeats of "90210" (1.03 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.4, #12) and "Shedding for the Wedding" (0.65 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #13) closed out the evening on The CW (0.84 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Take the Money and Run (0.0%), Combat Hospital (0.0%), America's Got Talent (-3.3%), It's Worth What? (-8.3%).

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," 2.5/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/4.

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; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

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" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49)

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/3 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 (9/7/10):

NBC (10.20 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) pulled in front on Tuesday thanks to new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (6.11 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) and "America's Got Talent" (12.26 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1).

Second place then went to ABC (5.65 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) with a new "Wipeout" (8.04 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2) followed by a repeat of "Wipeout" (5.60 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.2, #3) and the conclusion of "Nightlineprime: Secrets of Your Mind - Why We Do What We Do" (3.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9).

Next up was FOX (4.08 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #3) with repeats of "Glee" (4.03 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6) and another "Glee" (4.14 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #5).

Meanwhile, CBS (7.86 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) offered up second runs of "NCIS" (9.95 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6), "NCIS: Los Angeles" (8.01 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6) and "The Good Wife" (5.63 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10).

And finally, repeats of "One Tree Hill" (0.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) and "Life Unexpected" (0.73 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T11) on The CW (0.80 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.0/8) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.7/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.3/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/5) and "Daly" (0.8/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research