nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, july 13, 2011)

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

CBS (7.05 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) claimed top honors on Wednesday thanks to its mix of "Big Brother 13" (7.25 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.6, #2), "Criminal Minds" (6.59 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (7.30 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T5).

Sharing the demo crown was NBC (6.95 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.9, #T1) with fresh installments of "Minute to Win It" (4.80 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7), "America's Got Talent" (11.00 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.8, #1) and "Love in the Wild" (5.05 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #4).

Next up was FOX (5.46 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3) with another two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.46 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.8, #3).

And ABC (3.58 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up its combination of "Charlie Brown: Lucy Must Be Traded" (3.58 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12), "The Middle" (3.35 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9), "Modern Family" (3.55 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7), "Happy Endings" (2.77 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9) and a new "Primetime Nightline" (4.11 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T9).

Finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (0.90 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T13) and another "America's Next Top Model" (0.64 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #T13) on The CW (0.77 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Love in the Wild (-10.50%), Minute to Win It (-14.30%), America's Got Talent (-20.00%), So You Think You Can Dance (-25.00%), Primetime Nightline (-30.80%).

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," 2.7/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 2.4//6; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 3.0/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4 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; "Late Show," 0.7/3; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2 with an encore.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.3/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.2/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.3/2).

At 1:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.8/3 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 15 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (7/14/10):

NBC (7.92 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T1) lead both categories on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (6.60 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.0, #5), "America's Got Talent" (11.17 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.0, #1) and a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.99 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #6).

Sharing the adults 18-49 crown as FOX (6.00 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T1) with new episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.93 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 2.2, #4) and a second "So You Think You Can Dance" (6.08 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T2).

Next up was CBS (6.08 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #3) with a new "Big Brother 12" (6.31 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.3, #T2) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (6.33 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #7) and "CSI: NY" (5.62 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.69 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) had all repeats in its lineup of "Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown" (3.93 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11), "The Middle" (3.39 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11), "Modern Family" (4.02 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.3, #8), "Cougar Town" (2.83 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10) and "Castle" (3.99 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.15 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) and a second "America's Next Top Model" (1.01 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #T14) on The CW (1.08 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research