nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for saturday, september 14, 2013)

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

ABC (4.465 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1) was the most-watched network for the fourth Saturday in a row thanks to its coverage of "College Football: Notre Dame at Purdue" (4.465 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #1).

The silver then went to FOX (3.133 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2) with its own telecast of "College Football: Ohio State at Cal" (3.133 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #2).

Next up was CBS (3.868 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T3) and its repeat lineup of "Mike & Molly" (3.751 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3), "Two and a Half Men" (3.393 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T5), "Under the Dome" (3.131 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.6, #8) and "48 Hours" (4.902 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T3).

And finally, night six of "Million Second Quiz" (3.031 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 0.7, #7) and a rebroadcast of "American Ninja Warrior" (2.710 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T5) on NBC (2.817 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #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 and musical guest Justin Timberlake (3.1/8 in metered-market households, 1.4/7 in 18-49 in the 25 markets with Local People Meters) generated "SNL's" top household and 18-49 results in the local markets in 14 weeks (since June 8, with a rebroadcast hosted by Vince Vaughn with musical guest Miguel, the night of an NHL overrun).

· "SNL" posted the top rating of the night among CBS, NBC and Fox in the Local People Meters, out-rating all primetime programming on those networks.

Here are the highlights of the seven ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/15/12):

ABC (4.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1) was still the network to beat on Saturday with its coverage of "College Football: Notre Dame at Michigan State" (4.85 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1).

Sharing the silver then were NBC (3.55 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T2) and FOX (2.79 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T2) as the latter offered up its coverage of "College Football: USC at Stanford" (2.79 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.0, #3).

The Peacock then served up encores of Monday's two-hour "The Voice" (3.36 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) and Tuesday's one-hour "The Voice" (3.95 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #2).

And finally, repeats of "NCIS" (4.23 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 0.7, #6), "Hawaii Five-0" (3.87 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #7) and "48 Hours Mystery" (4.41 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.8, #5) on CBS (4.17 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 0.7, #4) closed out the night.

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

·The 38th season premiere of "Saturday Night Live," with host Seth MacFarlane and musical guest Frank Ocean (4.8/12 in metered-market households), dominated its time period. In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Saturday Night Live" averaged a 2.8 rating, 12 share in adults 18-49. Versus the year-ago premiere, which ran one week later at the end of primetime's premiere week, the September 15 "SNL" is up 4 percent in the Local People Meters (2.8 vs. 2.7) and is within 6 percent of the year-ago rating in metered-market households (4.8/12 vs. 5.1/13).

·"Saturday Night Live" was the #1 telecast of the night on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox both in 18-49 rating in the Local People Meters and in metered-market household rating, outscoring all primetime programs on those networks.

Source: Nielsen Media Research