nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, july 20, 2011)

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

FOX (5.41 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.9, #1) edged out the competition on Wednesday thanks to a two-hour "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.41 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.9, #3).

CBS (6.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.8, #2) then snagged a close second with its mix of "Big Brother 13" (7.02 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.5, #2), "Criminal Minds" (6.23 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (7.32 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4).

Next up was NBC (6.19 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with an encore of "It's Worth What?" (4.14 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) followed by new episodes of "America's Got Talent" (9.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and "Love in the Wild" (4.55 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T4).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.60 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (4.32 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9), "Modern Family" (4.10 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #8), another "Modern Family" (4.13 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #7), "Happy Endings" (2.64 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T10) and a new "Primetime Nightline" (3.22 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #12).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (0.95 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.3, #14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (0.99 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.4, #13) on The CW (0.97 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.3, #5) rounded out the evening.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): So You Think You Can Dance (5.6%), Primetime Nightline (0.0%), Big Brother 13 (-3.8%), America's Got Talent (-7.1%), Love in the Wild (-11.8%).

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," 2.2/5; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.8/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.2/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.8/3; "Late Show," 0.6/3; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.4/2.

At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.4/5 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.0/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.5/3 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 0.3/2 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 (7/21/10):

FOX (5.71 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday thanks to new episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.61 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 2.1, #4) and a second "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.80 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T2).

The silver then went to NBC (7.22 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #2) with new episodes of "Minute to Win It" (6.13 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.8, #5), "America's Got Talent" (9.86 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.6, #1) and a repeat of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.67 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.5, #8).

Next up was CBS (6.39 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3) with a new "Big Brother 12" (6.48 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T2) followed by repeats of "Criminal Minds" (6.61 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.6, #7) and "CSI: NY" (6.09 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.3, #9).

Meanwhile, it was all repeats on ABC (3.81 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) with "The Middle" (4.10 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.1, #11), another "The Middle" (4.15 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10), "Modern Family" (4.53 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.7, #6), "Cougar Town" (2.91 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.0, #12) and "Castle" (3.58 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.9, #13).

And finally, repeats of "America's Next Top Model" (1.20 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.5, #14) and another "America's Next Top Model" (1.05 million viewers, #15; adults 18-49: 0.4, #15) on The CW (1.12 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.4, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research