nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, july 14, 2012)

Here are the highlights of the 11 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (4.26 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) was the top draw on Saturday with its mix of "NYC 22" (3.51 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6), a second "NYC 22" (4.56 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4) and a repeat of "48 Hours Mystery" (4.73 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #1).

Second place then went to FOX (2.09 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T1) with the return of "Cops" (2.65 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2), another "Cops" (2.63 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #3) and "Mobbed" (1.55 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T4).

Next up was ABC (1.87 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) and its repeat lineup of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (1.91 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6), "Ball Boys" (1.19 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.3, #11) and "Castle" (2.52 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6).

And finally, the movie "An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars" (1.68 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T6) and the series finale of "The Firm" (1.72 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.3, #10) on NBC (1.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T3) closed out the night.

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live," with host Melissa McCarthy and musical guest Lady Antebellum (3.0/8 in metered-market households), dominated its time period. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 1.5 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49, making it the night's #1 program in the Local People Meters, ahead of all primetime telecasts on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

"Saturday Night Live" earned its highest metered-market household and Local People Meter ratings in five weeks (since June 2).

[NOTE: Today's numbers are courtesy of TVMediaInsights.com due to delays from our usual sources.]

Here are the highlights of the 10 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/16/11):

FOX (3.33 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #1) was the network to beat on Saturday with a repeat of "Cops" (3.17 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.0, #2) followed by the preview special "The Indestructibles" (3.49 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #1).

ABC (3.34 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #2) then took home the silver with encores of "101 Ways to Leave a Game Show" (2.45 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.6, #6) and "Primetime: Jaycee Dugard: In Her Own Words" (3.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3).

Next up was CBS (3.75 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) with the departing "Chaos" (3.04 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) followed by repeats of "The Mentalist" (3.65 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) and "48 Hours Mystery" (4.55 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3).

And finally, repeats of "Who Do You Think You Are?" (2.16 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.4, #10), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2.43 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.5, #T7) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (4.02 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3) on NBC (2.87 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.6, #T3) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

An encore telecast of "Saturday Night Live" (3.7/9 in metered-market households), hosted by Justin Timberlake with musical guest Lady Gaga, dominated its time period, scoring the #1 rating of the night ahead of all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox. This is the top-rated "SNL" in metered-market households since the original run of this episode on May 21. Versus the same night last year, "SNL" is up 16 percent (3.7 vs. 3.2).

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.0 rating, 9 share in adults 18-49, making it the #1 telecast of the night ahead of all primetime programs on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox. This is the top-rated "SNL" in the Local People Meters since May 21. "SNL" is up 18 percent versus the same night last year (2.0 vs. 1.7).

Source: Nielsen Media Research