nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, october 19, 2011)

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

Coverage of the "World Series, Game 1" (12.91 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #T2) put FOX (12.91 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) in front on Wednesday.

CBS (11.63 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) then took home the silver with fresh installments of "Survivor: South Pacific" (11.13 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.3, #4), "Criminal Minds" (13.11 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.9, #T2) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (10.64 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #8).

Sharing second place was ABC (8.90 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.3, #T2) and its lineup of "The Middle" (9.03 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.9, #7), "Suburgatory" (8.75 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 3.1, #5), "Modern Family" (12.85 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (6.89 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 3.0, #6) and "Revenge" (7.94 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.5, #9).

Next up was NBC (6.88 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) and its struggling mix of "Up All Night" (5.64 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10), a repeat of "Whitney" (4.10 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T12), "Harry's Law" (8.18 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T12) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.58 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T10).

And finally, an encore of "Ringer" (1.22 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) led into a new "America's Next Top Model" (1.89 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #14) on The CW (1.56 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Ringer" posted a 0.7 rating while "Top Model" delivered a 1.4 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+5.41% - Criminal Minds
+5.00% - Up All Night
+3.57% - The Middle
+3.33% - Suburgatory
+3.12% - Survivor: South Pacific
0.00% - Harry's Law
0.00% - America's Next Top Model
0.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
0.00% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-1.75% - Modern Family
-7.41% - Revenge
-9.09% - Happy Endings

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+78.57% - Revenge (vs. The Whole Truth)
+47.62% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+40.00% - Up All Night (vs. Undercovers)
+33.33% - America's Next Top Model (vs. Hellcats)
+19.15% - Modern Family
+18.18% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+11.54% - The Middle
+8.33% - Criminal Minds
-3.23% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
-5.71% - Survivor: South Pacific
-12.50% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (vs. Law & Order: Los Angeles)
-53.85% - 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," 2.8/7 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.2/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.3/8; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.4/5 with an encore.

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," 0.6/3 with an encore; "Nightline," 1.2/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's first-run "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 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/4 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (10/20/10):

CBS (12.10 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.00 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #3), "Criminal Minds" (14.31 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #2) and "The Defenders" (10.00 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #9).

A silver medal then went to FOX (8.34 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #2) with its coverage of the "NLCS, Game 4" (8.34 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.7, #5).

Next up was ABC (7.34 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) with fresh installments of "The Middle" (8.54 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T6), "Better With You" (6.97 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 2.1, #10), "Modern Family" (11.92 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 4.7, #1), "Cougar Town" (7.49 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 3.1, #4) and "The Whole Truth" (4.57 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.4, #12).

Meanwhile, NBC (7.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) offered up new episodes of "Undercovers" (5.88 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #11), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8.52 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #T6) and "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (8.06 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.4, #8).

And finally, a new "America's Next Top Model" (3.03 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13) lead into a repeat of "Hellcats" (1.58 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) on The CW (2.31 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.0, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Law & Order: Los Angeles (26.30%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (18.20%), The Middle (8.30%), Criminal Minds (2.90%), Modern Family (0.00%), Better With You (0.00%), Undercovers (0.00%), Cougar Town (-3.10%), Survivor: Nicaragua (-5.40%), America's Next Top Model (-7.10%), The Defenders (-12.00%).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (2.9/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (2.8/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.5/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.3/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.3/5) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research