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

Here are the highlights of the 17 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (9.80 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1) won the repeat race on Wednesday with its mix of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (9.24 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4), "Criminal Minds" (10.50 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.3, #1) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (9.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2).

ABC (4.03 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2) then claimed the silver with its lineup of "The Middle" (5.30 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #6), "Suburgatory" (4.65 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.4, #5), "Modern Family" (5.57 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3), "Happy Endings" (3.45 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #7) and "Revenge" (2.60 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.6, #15).

Next up was FOX (2.53 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3) with encores of "Raising Hope" (2.50 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11), another "Raising Hope" (2.32 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13), "New Girl" (2.55 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T9) and another "New Girl" (2.76 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #8).

Meanwhile, NBC (3.35 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) offered up repeats of "Up All Night" (3.45 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T9), "Whitney" (2.74 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13), "Harry's Law" (3.28 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.5, #16) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.68 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11).

And finally, the feature "According to Greta" (1.21 million viewers, #17; adults 18-49: 0.4, #17) closed out the night on The CW (1.21 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5). In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the film posted a 0.6 rating.

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," 2.6/6 with an encore telecast; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4/6 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.7/6; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/3 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," 0.6/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/3; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/4 in metered-market households with an encore) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.1/4 with an encore). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/3 in 18-49 with an encore) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2 with an encore).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/3 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 16 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/29/10):

ABC (5.06 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) snagged top demo honors on Wednesday with its mix of "The Middle" (6.40 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4), "Better With You" (5.22 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6), "Modern Family" (6.13 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T2), "Modern Family" (6.08 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.2, #1), "Cougar Town" (3.68 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6) and "Cougar Town" (2.82 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10).

CBS (7.58 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.6, #2) however took a close second place with repeats of "NCIS: Los Angeles" (6.94 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9), "Criminal Minds" (9.28 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T2) and "The Defenders" (6.53 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8).

Next up was NBC (5.26 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with a new "Undercovers" (4.46 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13) followed by repeats of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.52 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11) and another "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (6.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.6, #5).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.87 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up second runs of "Human Target" (3.94 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11) and another "Human Target" (3.79 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T13).

And finally, The CW (1.35 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) did the same with "Hellcats" (1.51 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T15) and another "Hellcats" (1.19 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T15).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Undercovers (-18.20%).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.0/7) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.7/6) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.6/6). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.2/4) on ABC, "Ferguson" (1.3/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.4/4) and "Daly" (0.9/3) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research