nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for wednesday, september 14, 2011)

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

NBC (12.21 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) was the network to beat on Wednesday with the two-hour season finale of "America's Got Talent" (14.01 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.5, #2) followed by the debuts of "Up All Night" (10.91 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.7, #1) and "Free Agents" (6.34 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.1, #5). "Up All Night's" demo number marks the best for a scripted program in its time period in over two years.

CBS (9.18 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.1, #2) then took home the silver with the 90-minute launch of "Survivor: South Pacific" (10.57 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 3.4, #3) alongside the 90-minute finale of "Big Brother 13" (7.78 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.9, #4).

Falling out of the hunt was ABC (4.50 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with repeats of "The Middle" (4.47 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T9), another "The Middle" (4.59 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.4, #8), "Modern Family" (4.97 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T6), another "Modern Family" (4.73 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.8, #T6) and the season finale of "Primetime Nightline" (4.13 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T9).

Next up was FOX (2.91 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.8, #4) with the season finale of "Buried Treasure" (2.78 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #13) and an encore of "Buried Treasure" (3.05 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11).

And finally, the premiere of "H8R" (1.34 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.6, #14) and the return of "America's Next Top Model" (1.91 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.9, #T11) on The CW (1.63 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) closed out the night. Said numbers for "H8R" mark the smallest audience for an original program in its time period in over two years.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): America's Got Talent (25.0%), Big Brother 13 (3.6%), Primetime Nightline (-14.3%), Buried Treasure (-38.5%).

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," 2.8/7; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 1.9/5 with an encore; and ABC's combo of "Nightline," 2.9/7; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/4.

In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," 0.9/4; "Late Show," 0.5/2 with an encore; "Nightline," 0.9/4; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/3.

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" (1.1/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.6/4 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.4/3).

At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.9/4 in metered-market households with an encore and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (9/15/10):

NBC (14.33 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.3, #1) edged out a victory on the final Wednesday of the summer thanks to the two-hour "America's Got Talent" (16.05 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 3.8, #2) finale followed by a preview of "Outlaw" (10.90 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.4, #4).

CBS (9.26 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.2, #2) then took home a competitive second place with the debut of "Survivor: Nicaragua" (12.01 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 3.9, #1) followed by the two-hour "Big Brother 12" (7.89 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 2.9, #3) finale.

A year ago (9/17/09), the Eye launched "Survivor: Samoa" (11.49 million viewers; adults 18-49: 3.6) in its previous Thursday home.

Next up was FOX (4.76 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 2.0, #3) with a new "Masterchef" (4.38 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.8, #6) followed by the season finale of "Masterchef" (5.15 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #5).

Meanwhile, ABC (3.93 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4) offered up repeats of "The Middle" (3.80 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10), another "The Middle" (4.04 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10), "Modern Family" (4.49 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #7), "Cougar Town" (3.48 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8) and "Castle" (3.90 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10).

And finally, week two of "America's Next Top Model" (2.90 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T8) and "Hellcats" (2.68 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 1.1, #T10) on The CW (2.79 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T4) rounded out the evening.

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.4/9) and ABC's "Nightline" (3.0/7) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.8/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/5) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/5) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.6/6) and "Daly" (0.9/4) on NBC.

Source: Nielsen Media Research