nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, september 28, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

FOX (11.51 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) was still the demo king on Wednesday thanks to full hours of "The X Factor" (10.69 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T3) and another "The X Factor" (12.34 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.3, #2).

ABC (9.35 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) and CBS (11.58 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) split the silver as the latter offered up new episodes of "Survivor: South Pacific" (10.46 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 3.1, #7), "Criminal Minds" (12.62 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.6, #T3) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (11.64 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.0, #8).

The Alphabet then offered up its full fall lineup of "The Middle" (8.55 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.6, #10), "Suburgatory" (9.81 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.3, #5), "Modern Family" (13.24 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (7.38 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 3.2, #6) and "Revenge" (8.55 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.7, #9).

Next up was NBC (6.27 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) with its mix of "Up All Night" (5.34 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 2.1, #11), "Free Agents" (3.11 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #14), "Harry's Law" (7.44 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.14 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.0, #12).

And finally, new episodes of "H8R" (1.43 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.6, #16) and "America's Next Top Model" (1.71 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #15) on The CW (1.57 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) rounded out the night. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "H8R" posted a 0.9 rating while "Top Model" delivered a 1.3 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+50.00% - H8R
+14.29% - America's Next Top Model
0.00% - Survivor
0.00% - Harry's Law
-3.23% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
-4.44% - The X Factor - 9:00
-5.08% - Modern Family
-7.14% - The Middle
-8.70% - Up All Night
-12.20% - The X Factor - 8:00
-12.20% - Criminal Minds
-13.04% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-20.59% - Revenge
-23.08% - Free Agents

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+107.69% - Revenge (vs. The Whole Truth)
+57.14% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+38.71% - The X Factor - 9:00 (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
+31.25% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+28.57% - The X Factor - 8:00 (vs. Hell's Kitchen)
+24.44% - Modern Family
+20.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+10.34% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
+8.33% - The Middle
0.00% - Criminal Minds
-8.82% - Survivor
-11.11% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
-35.48% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
-37.50% - Free Agents (vs. Undercovers)
-53.85% - H8R (vs. America's Next Top Model)
-55.56% - Harry's Law (vs. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

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," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.7/7; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.2/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/5.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 1.1/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/4 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 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 (9/29/10):

CBS (12.32 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with new episodes of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.16 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3), "Criminal Minds" (14.41 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2) and "The Defenders" (10.38 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9).

A silver medal then went to FOX (6.31 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.9, #2) with week two of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.00 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.8, #7) and a second hour of "Hell's Kitchen" (6.62 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T4).

Next up was NBC (8.95 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) with new episodes of "Undercovers" (7.08 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #12) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (9.25 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.7, #8) followed by the premiere of "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (10.52 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.1, #T4).

Meanwhile, ABC (7.29 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4) was out of the hunt with its mix of "The Middle" (8.33 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.4, #10), "Better With You" (7.06 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #11), "Modern Family" (11.88 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.5, #1), "Cougar Town" (7.07 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.9, #6) and "The Whole Truth" (4.69 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T13).

And finally, new episodes of "America's Next Top Model" (2.91 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T13) and "Hellcats" (2.25 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.9, #15) on The CW (2.58 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): America's Next Top Model (0.00%), Hell's Kitchen (0.00%), The Middle (-7.70%), Modern Family (-10.00%), Criminal Minds (-10.00%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (-10.00%), Hellcats (-10.00%), Cougar Town (-12.10%), The Defenders (-13.80%), Survivor: Nicaragua (-15.00%), Better With You (-16.00%), The Whole Truth (-18.80%), Undercovers (-23.80%).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.3/9) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.6/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.3/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.5/5) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research