nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, december 14, 2011)

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

CBS (11.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.1, #1) slipped into the top spot on Wednesday with new episodes of "Survivor: South Pacific" (10.74 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.1, #3), "Criminal Minds" (12.70 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T1) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (12.13 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #4).

FOX (9.33 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #2) then had to settle for second place with fresh installments of "The X Factor" (10.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T1) and "I Hate My Teenage Daughter" (5.25 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7).

Next up was ABC (7.16 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) with repeats of "The Middle" (6.16 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T8), "Suburgatory" (5.21 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T8) and "Modern Family" (6.61 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T5) followed by "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2011" (8.34 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T5).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.97 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) was out of the hunt with its all-repeat lineup of "Up All Night" (3.66 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T10), "Whitney" (3.31 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #12), "Harry's Law" (4.07 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.36 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T10).

And finally, encores of "America's Next Top Model" (1.27 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) and "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show" (1.61 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #14) on The CW (1.44 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Top Model" delivered a 0.6 rating while "Secret" posted a 1.0 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+20.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
+3.03% - The X Factor
0.00% - Criminal Minds
-6.06% - Survivor: South Pacific
-9.52% - I Hate My Teenage Daughter

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+81.82% - The X Factor (vs. Human Target/Hell's Kitchen)
+50.00% - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (vs. The Defenders)
+6.25% - Criminal Minds
-11.43% - Survivor: South Pacific
-26.92% - I Hate My Teenage Daughter (vs. Hell's Kitchen)

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; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 3.0/8; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.7/9; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.8/5.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.8/4; "Nightline," 1.2/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.6/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households with an encore) trailed CBS's first-run "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.5/5). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 in 18-49 with an encore) tied "Late Late Show" (0.5/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 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 (12/15/10):

CBS (12.13 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.9, #1) was the network to beat with its all original lineup of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.38 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.5, #1), "Criminal Minds" (13.80 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) and "The Defenders" (10.21 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6).

NBC (7.87 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2) then claimed the silver with the penultimate night of "The Sing-Off" (8.38 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) followed by a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.86 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6).

Next up was FOX (5.84 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #3) with a new "Human Target" (5.79 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T9) and the season finale of "Hell's Kitchen" (5.90 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.6, #4).

Meanwhile, ABC (4.76 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) offered up its all-repeat lineup of "The Middle" (5.76 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T9), "Better With You" (4.53 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T11), "Modern Family" (5.88 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T6), another "Modern Family" (5.87 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5), "Cougar Town" (3.50 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T11) and another "Cougar Town" (3.04 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #13).

And finally, repeats of "The Vampire Diaries" (1.37 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) and another "The Vampire Diaries" (1.26 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T14) on The CW (1.31 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Hell's Kitchen (13.00%), The Sing-Off (11.50%), The Defenders (0.00%), Survivor: Nicaragua (-2.80%), Human Target (-6.30%), Criminal Minds (-8.60%)

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.2/7) took top honors over NBC's "Leno" (3.4/8) and CBS's "Letterman" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.6/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.5/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.8/6) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research