nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, january 4, 2012)

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

ABC (9.38 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) was the top draw on the first Wednesday of 2012 thanks to new episodes of "The Middle" (9.95 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #3), "Suburgatory" (8.73 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #4), "Modern Family" (13.98 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 5.6, #1), "Happy Endings" (7.73 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 3.3, #2) and "Revenge" (7.96 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #5).

The silver then went to CBS (8.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) with the return of "I Get That a Lot" (8.32 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #6) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (8.21 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.0, #7) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (8.06 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8).

Next up was NBC (3.84 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) with repeats of "Up All Night" (3.52 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11), "Whitney" (3.14 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T11), "Harry's Law" (4.46 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (3.72 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #10).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T3) served up an encore of "Glee" (2.35 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T13) alongside a new "Mobbed" (3.02 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9) special.

And finally, repeats of "The Secret Circle" (0.97 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15) and "The Secret Circle" (0.84 million viewers, #16; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T15) on The CW (0.90 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) closed out its week-long marathon. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), "Circle" posted a 0.5 rating at 8:00/7:00c and a 0.4 rating at 9:00/8:00c.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+130.00% - I Get That a Lot (vs. 12/17/10)
+13.79% - Happy Endings (vs. 12/7/11)
+12.00% - Modern Family (vs. 12/7/11)
+7.14% - The Middle (vs. 12/7/11)
+4.17% - Revenge (vs. 12/7/11)
+3.57% - Suburgatory (vs. 12/7/11)
-25.00% - Mobbed (vs. 11/23/11)

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+56.25% - Revenge (vs. Primetime: Celebrity Weight Loss - What Really Happens)
+27.78% - I Get That a Lot (vs. Live to Dance)
+16.67% - Modern Family
+16.00% - Suburgatory (vs. Better With You)
+13.79% - Happy Endings (vs. Cougar Town)
+7.14% - The Middle
-29.41% - Mobbed (vs. Human Target (S))

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; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.6/6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.1/7; 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," 1.1/5; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) tied CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). 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 0.9/4 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 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (1/5/11):

NBC (9.40 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T1) and ABC (7.36 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.7, #T1) shared top demo honors on Wednesday as the former served up new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (6.77 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #8), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (10.52 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T3) and another "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (10.89 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.0, #2).

The Alphabet then offered up fresh installments of "The Middle" (9.32 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.8, #5), "Better With You" (7.43 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.5, #7), "Modern Family" (11.76 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.8, #1), "Cougar Town" (6.75 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.9, #T3) and the special "Primetime: Celebrity Weight Loss - What Really Happens" (4.45 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #12).

Next up was CBS (8.91 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) with night two of "Live to Dance" (7.78 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #9) followed by "The 37th Annual People's Choice Awards" (9.48 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.7, #6).

Meanwhile, FOX (6.31 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4) went with new episodes of "Human Target" (6.16 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T10) and a second "Human Target" (6.46 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T10).

And finally, repeats of "Hellcats" (1.07 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) and another "Hellcats" (0.81 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) on The CW (0.94 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Human Target (21.40% vs. 12/22/10), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (20.00% vs. 12/1/10), Modern Family (17.10% vs. 12/8/10), Better With You (13.60% vs. 12/8/10), The Middle (12.00% vs. 12/8/10), Cougar Town (11.50% vs. 12/8/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.7/7) and NBC's "Leno" (3.0/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.5/5) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research