nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, december 1, 2010)

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

CBS (8.79 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.5, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with its mix of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.22 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.6, #1), a repeat of "Criminal Minds" (9.08 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.2, #6) and its annual "The Grammy Nominations Concert LIVE! - Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" (5.06 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #8).

FOX (5.80 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #2) then claimed the silver with fresh installments of "Human Target" (5.79 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.6, #9) and "Hell's Kitchen" (5.82 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2).

Next up was NBC (7.71 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) with its combination of "Undercovers" (4.84 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (9.20 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.5, #3) and "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (9.10 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5).

Meanwhile, ABC (5.09 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4) was out of the hunt with repeats of "The Middle" (6.53 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.9, #7), "Better With You" (5.32 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.6, #10), "Modern Family" (6.96 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.3, #4), "Cougar Town" (4.46 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.6, #11) and a new "The Whole Truth" (3.64 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #14).

And finally, the season finale of "America's Next Top Model" (3.34 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 1.5, #12) led into a new "Hellcats" (1.97 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.8, #15) on The CW (2.65 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.1, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): America's Next Top Model (87.50%), Survivor: Nicaragua (80.00%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (19.00% vs. 11/17/10), Hell's Kitchen (18.20%), Law & Order: Los Angeles (15.80% vs. 11/17/10), Human Target (14.30%), Undercovers (8.30% vs. 11/10/10), Hellcats (-11.10% vs. 11/17/10), The Whole Truth (-25.00% vs. 10/27/10).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.5/9) took top honors over ABC's "Nightline" (2.8/7) and CBS's "Letterman" (2.1/5). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.2/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/5) and "Daly" (1.0/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/2/09):

New episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.33 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T4) and "Glee" (8.17 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 3.7, #2) put FOX (7.25 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) in front on Wednesday.

The silver then went to CBS (8.42 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #2) with its mix of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (10.74 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #1), "The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! - Countdown to Music's Biggest Night" (6.48 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.4, #3) and a repeat of "Criminal Minds" (8.03 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #6).

Next up was NBC (7.54 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T3) with its combination of "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" (8.78 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #9), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (8.29 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7) and "The Jay Leno Show" (5.56 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.5, #12).

Meanwhile, ABC (5.46 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T3) offered up a repeat of "Modern Family" (5.97 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.7, #11), a new "The Middle" (6.40 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.0, #T7), repeats of "Modern Family" (6.68 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T4) and "Cougar Town" (5.23 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.8, #10) and a new "Eastwick" (4.24 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.3, #13).

And finally, repeats of "Gossip Girl" (1.08 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) and "The Vampire Diaries" (1.10 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) on The CW (1.09 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the night.

Source: Nielsen Media Research